A really bad idea

  I came across a post on KB6NU's (Dan) blog this week. I don't follow his blog regularly, but I was shocked to come across a highly-delusional post about someone else's licence restructuring proposal. 

This is not, I hasten to add, some FCC proposal. It's just two guys spit-balling, but it's a fairly frightening look at the 'logic' of hams and 'solutions' to the few problems that are actually admitted to exist. 

The problem that is attempted to be solved here is that "kids" aren't going in to the hobby. Now, in ham terms, "kids" can be anyone under 30, but Dan seems to be talking about actual children here. The solution, unsurprisingly, is to go backwards. Prior to 1978, the Novice licence was non-renewable; you were expected to move up to General Class within two years or abandon the hobby. Naturally, returning to this is proposed as the way to revitalise the hobby. 

This is pretty compacted delusion, broken logic, and failure to grasp a point, but read this statement by K1BG (that KB6NU endorses): 

We need to go back to what worked.  A simple Novice test, limited power (50 watts to avoid the RF exposure documentation), HF phone privileges, and a two year, non-renewable license. Move up or move out.  Given today’s technology, you could take the test with a general class or higher licensee, have him/her go online, and have a callsign (NA1AAA – NZ0ZZZ, designating that you are a Novice) the same day.  When you upgrade, your call does as well.  Done.  Get the kids in, get them hooked, and move on.

Where to begin? It seems that these two guys believe that a major problem is that it takes too long to get your callsign. With today's technology, it could be faster than it was before. Guess what?  We have today's technology today, and it's not a "same-day" process. How many people are there in the country, kids or not, willing to study for and stand for the exam, but not willing to wait a week or so to get their callsign? I've never heard anyone say, "I'd like to get a ham licence, but waiting that week...forget it!" You're probably going to wait a month or so for an exam session, anyway. 

It's the sentence "We need to go to back to what worked" that is profoundly delusional. Do these people fail to understand how different the world of 1978 was compared to today? Technology was limited, and there weren't too many options other than ham radio to explore. There was no internet. Kids couldn't decide to take up C++ coding and work on apps, for example. They couldn't get a Raspberry Pi board, write and compile an Arduino program, and test it out. There was no gaming industry, and they couldn't work on pixel rendering algorithms. Soldering together components, mostly from kits, was "high-tech" back then. 

But look at what communications were like back then. Cable TV was relatively new, for Christ's sake. Most countries had short-wave stations, and they broadcast in multiple languages. A lot of the world got their news that way. FM stereo had only been a reality for less than ten years at that point. Calling someone in Duluth on the telephone was an expensive long-distance call, and you counted the seconds you were on the line. No email, no BBS, no dial-up modems. When you were in your car, you couldn't be reached. And answering machines weren't even that common. People sent telegrams! Does anyone even remember what those are?

Being able to string up an aerial and talk to people on the other side of the country was an exciting prospect, much less being able to reach Europe. People didn't do that. Two-metre repeaters had only been in the metro for a few years, and a lot of VHF radios still worked on crystals. Compared to today, it was the Bronze Age. 

It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to see that amateur radio meant something different in 1978 than it does today. There were real, solid, practical reasons to go into the hobby -- and none of those reasons are valid any more. You were motivated to learn the code and study for the upgrade, because it was the only game in town. Guess what, Grandpa? Those days are gone. 

We already have a Technician licence that's renewable. What's happening with that? A whole lot of people find out pretty quickly that "it's not for them". Make it a "move up or move out" proposition, Mister Tough Guy, and you'll find that a whole lot of people choose "out". I know several people that have upgraded, and they don't spend hardly any time on HF. Gosh, maybe it's not the magical thing that it was forty years ago. 

A Tech today can run 200W on HF using CW. Few do, because CW is a dead language that only a minority of hams know. Yet, when Gateway to HF was announced, it was absolutely clear that new licensees would fall all over themselves to learn the code. Of course they would, because everybody wants to get on HF, right? Now, though, Grandpa has figured out that phone is the thing that all of the teeny-boppers are crazy about. Gee, if we're "going back to what worked", wasn't CW a big part of that? It seems that HF isn't all that of a compelling draw, if the current licensees can't be bothered to pick up CW in order to get in on that magic world of yesterday.

They're "getting in", they aren't "getting hooked", but they are "moving on". 

"Move up or move out". Really? When did the General Class become some kind of lofty realm of geniuses? It's okay if you stagnate there, because that's the pinnacle of human knowledge? This whole idea of pressuring people to advance is counter-productive. FM is fine for a lot of people, but you can't go too long without somebody's grandpa telling you that it's your job to advance, can you? If anything seems to "work" in the hobby right now, it's the Tech Class. Instead, you have miserable bastards harping on Techs to move up, for no good reason. Why? To be like you? Maybe consider what a stellar example you are before brow-beating others to emulate your glorious path. You probably haven't explored anything new in twenty years, HF or otherwise.

KB6NU weighs in:

I kind of like the idea of going back to some kind of Novice test that expires in a year or two. For one thing, it would eventually clear the database of all the Techs that got licenses and then never did anything with them. This would give us a much better indication of the health of amateur radio.

Yeah, be careful what you wish for, Dan. This is the dream of all the "old-timers": separate the serious hams from the dabblers. Amateur radio is serious business, as we all 'know'. Once all of the dabblers are run out of the hobby, it'll be just the serious people, and the hobby will thrive. It's not like you guys have been wrong before about this kind of thing, right? See, we've already got a whole lot of deadly serious people on HF, and people aren't crowding in to rub elbows with them. Maybe it's not 1978 any more. 
Just look at the decline in activity across the board -- even on HF. That's your "indication of the health of amateur radio" right there. People that can get on the air, aren't. Even Generals, Grandpa. Is it only me that notices the contradiction between being willing to toss thousands out of the hobby and the goal of bringing new people in?

But suppose we find out that "the health of amateur radio" is poor? What hare-brained scheme is next? Making it harder to get a licence, so that people will appreciate it more? That sounds stupid enough to be real. 

Realistically, we all know what would happen. There would a few delusional straws that would be grasped at for the first year or so, probably along the lines of, "people don't know about the new licence". 

For the next two years, we'd be told to "give it a chance!", and both kids that would join would have their faces plastered all over the ARRL website as 'proof' that the plan is working. By then, we'd see that "move out" is a real winner of an option, and there would be angry, bitter screeds all over that would amount to "Good riddance!". 

Then, the real idiocy would rear it's ugly head. Obviously, the problem would be that it's too easy to get a licence, so that being a ham "doesn't mean anything". Hey, if you want to hear the fascinating story of someone's hernia surgery, you're just going to have to learn CW at 15 wpm. Otherwise, you're gonna miss out. And, as the numbers take a nose-dive, the brilliant geniuses that created this mess would slip off into dementia. 

We've basically defined amateur radio as HF operation for decades, even though about half of all licensed hams really don't have real HF privileges. I know that it's heresy and all that, but maybe we could start to realise that HF really isn't that attractive to most people in today's technological environment.

Suppose, just for the sake of discussion, that: 

• 45-second QSOs with boring people isn't as compelling as you imagine it is. 
• Spending a nice weekend on your ass in front of a radio collecting "rare DX" is on the same level as collecting Pokemon trading cards or bottle caps.
• A whole lot of people in the real world can't put up towers, or don't have the real estate for long dipoles. Ever heard of an HOA? A lot of people in the real world have, buddy. 
• Boring people that are far away are about as interesting as boring people that are close at hand. 
• Many people have computers, tablets, and cellphones that allow them to "magically" communicate with the other side of the planet more reliably and more magically than 50W phone privileges will allow them to.
• If kids really want to talk to boring geezers, they can call their Grandpa on their cell phones.
• Kids have an entirely different and vibrant tech world available to them today, and working with steam-engine HF "tech" is the last thing that we need them working on.

 Let's also consider that the purpose of amateur radio licensing is to ensure that competent people are operating. The purpose of the licensing system is not to ensure that the world of 1978 is forever locked in to the regulatory scheme. Maybe if people needed a degree in physics to get a drivers licence, we'd have more interest in physics. And we could vastly increase the public's knowledge of Sanskrit if we required fluency in that language to legally operate a vehicle on the nation's roadways. But we don't, because that's not the kind of social engineering that licences are all about. If anything, now that "the ham guy" is out of the FCC, we can maybe stop letting the ARRL write the rules. That's been a spectacular failure. 

The best way to get young people in to the hobby is to get the elderly out, so be really careful about making this your major cause, Grandpa. Nothing says "this isn't for me" to a young person than finding out that 75% of the people on the air are retired. Maybe, in some dream you had, there are 17 year-olds that are so intent on hearing your tedious stories that they will take an exam and spend a lot of money to do so. But, they're in that same dream where new episodes of Mary Tyler Moore are still coming out.

Honestly, I can't even imagine what a kid would say to most of the geezers on HF. There's a cultural abyss there that has nothing to do with the licensing process. Fortunately, actual conversation isn't highly prized on HF. But the same kid that can IRC chat (an obsolete mode) with someone on another continent -- regardless if "the band is open" or not -- is not likely to be impressed by a scratchy SSB conversation on a noisy band. 

If anything, allowing entry -level hams digital mode operation at 10W would be more appealing than 50W phone. HF is noise, where FM is quiet, and digital modes are silent. Is everybody in the family going to want to hear the garbled SSB voices, the heterodyning of signals, the white noise, the inconsiderate operators barging in, etc? Long-time operators don't even hear that kind of thing, but those new to the hobby do -- and it's not "magical". 

I'd say drop the Gateway to HF and it's CW fantasy. Give Techs 10W digital mode access, instead of phone. Maybe even give 6M to the Generals -- they seem to be the only ones that see value in it. And don't give Techs access to anything higher than 900 MHz, because they'll fry their eyeballs. I've given Gateway to HF a fair chance, and it sucks rocks. There's a de-facto 15 wpm "proficiency test" built in, because nobody will QRS. I guess we already have a "move up or move out" philosophy for CW. How's that working? I chose "move out", rather than waste my time on snobs. 

Again and again, we see hams living in the past and truly believing that "what worked" then will work now. They don't know any actual kids, except perhaps their grandchildren, and everyone around them has learned not to tread on their precious delusions. Any kid can already get on Grandpa's HF rig under the control operator provision and experience the "magic" squall. But, by the time you'd explain the complex rules and procedures of making a contact, their eyes would glaze over and they'd be thinking of an excuse to get out of the room. They won't be "hooked", that's for sure. 

About a year ago, I put my tablet in front of a 17 year-old tuned to an online websdr receiver. After ten minutes, they said "This is really boring!". They didn't express any interest in actually talking to any of those people. Now, you can say, "That's just one kid", but there was no fascination whatsoever. Obviously, what you would rather do is pretend that kids today are exactly like you were back in the Bronze Age. Yeah, that's not dishonest or delusional, is it? And, if you find one kid that is interested in HF, you'll suddenly be willing to extrapolate that single case to an entire generation, won't you? Weird how that works in only the one direction.

The problems with the hobby aren't based in the licensing. They're based on the relevance of amateur radio in the current technological climate, the skewed demographic found on the air, the isolation from the real world of those operating, the rigid conformity and tightly-controlled conversations, and the bizarre belief among hams that they are some kind of technical elite. Hams have become so accustomed to lying to each other about the state of the hobby, that they are actually believing their own "spin".

Guest post, part six: summary

This is the sixth and final post in the series written by a highly experienced anonymous operator, covering a wide variety of topics and geared for newcomers to the hobby. Thanks again to our guest writer for all of his hard work and positive attitude, and I hope that he will contribute to this blog further. -KD0TLS
part one 
part two 
part three 
part four 
part five 

Guest post, part five: working DXpeditions and DX pileups

We're approaching the end of this series, and our guest writer is tackling a prickly aspect of HF procedures. Contrary to the belief of many hams, people are not born with this information hard-wired into their brains. Fortunately, we have an experienced HF operator willing to share this information without any screaming or humiliation involved. Yes, it really is possible. - KD0TLS

Guest post, part four: Bands and Classes

This is the fourth of six in a series designed to give practical advice to new hams, written by a highly experienced anonymous operator. -KD0TLS

WebSDR update

A lot of the online webSDR receivers have been upgraded to allow HTML5 recently, instead of the cumbersome Java applets which required security permissions. I had some fun today listening to 2M in England on the Cheshire receiver. It receives 2M, 70 cm (UHF), 10M, and even 11M in all modes. Then I switched to the receiver in Andorra to catch some 40M PSK31 QSOs.

All of the webSDR receivers work in all modes: CW, LSB, USB, AM, and FM. Bandwidth is very adjustable, and you can get pretty narrow for CW reception. 

If you don't have the ability to put up a big HF dipole, or you have a lot of local RFI, then listening to receivers online in places that are actually close to the hams you are trying to hear is a great idea. It's also a nice way to keep up on your code skills, and listen to digital modes. Most receivers even allow you to set presets and record audio.

There are a lot of these receivers, but the "big one" is undoubtedly in The Netherlands, which receives continuously from 0 to 29.160 MHz. It often has over 200 people using it at once.

Below is a small list of online HF receivers that I've tried out over the past month or so. They all operate on HTML5, so your web browser and a speaker is all that you need. If you have an Android smartphone, there are apps available to translate PSK31 and RTTY tones into text, and even read CW. These receivers will all work on Android phones if you have Firefox installed. The list below is by no means exhaustive; there are around 90 receivers in various places, though most are in Europe.

Germany   80, 40, 20, and 10 M 
England    160, 80, 60, 40, 20, and 17 M - mobile version
Andorra    80, 60, 40, 20M (my favourite) 
Arizona     160 and 40M
Michigan   40, 30 and 20M 
Brazil        80, 40, 20, and 10M 
Australia   80, 40, and 20M 
Russia       80, 40, 20, and 17M 
Hungary    VLF, 80, 40, 6, 2M, and 70 cm (UHF)

In all cases, you can type in the frequency you want to listen to in KHz (e.g. 7025), or you can click on a spot where you see a signal in the "waterfall" and fine tune it with the controls. Don't forget to select the mode that you are interested in. If you find a favourite, you should probably donate a few bucks to support the effort. Bandwidth costs money.

It's an interesting perspective to listen from the places you are trying to reach, and hear how American stations sound. I wish that more receivers were available here in the U.S. on different bands, so that other countries could gain that same insight.

KD0UIH on PSK31: My Leap Into Digital Modes

Hi again, it’s Chuck (KD0UIH) taking another crack at writing a blog post.  Quite a bit has been learned since my first post.  This hobby keeps me entertained and keeps my grey matter from getting mushy. 

We all know amateur radio has many avenues to explore and for a new operator, such as myself, it can be a little overwhelming at times.  In other words, there are so many things to try and it is very exciting right from the start.  So, there I was minding my own business talking to locals on the repeaters, reading articles, meeting fellow hams in person and working HF on occasion.  It happened.  I decided to make the leap into digital modes.

I was doing my usual evening hangout on a local repeater, KA0KMJ (444.425) when I heard talk about PSK31.  I have seen examples of digital modes online and read about it but the thought of actually doing it didn’t really cross my mind... until that moment.  

PSK31 is a text-based digital mode that has been around since the mid 90s.  It is keyboard to keyboard with no internet required.  The narrow bandwidth (2.5 kHz) makes this mode very effective with low power QRP operation.  Get this... because of the narrow bandwidth, nearly twenty contacts can be interacting at the same time verses one SSB phone QSO.  That’s a very impressive use of the airwaves!

That evening, the homework started and I knew that I had to try this!  I did  some internet searching and talked to Tony (N0RUA) for a little advice.  He suggested the SignaLink USB would be worth looking at.   He pointed out having easy access to audio level changes via knobs on the front of the unit vs. clicking through internal computer menus was something to consider which sealed the deal for me.  I ordered the SignaLink USB and Icom-specific cable for it’s sheer simplicity and popularity among fellow hams.  

In the meantime, I decided on the software I would use.  Being a Mac computer user, the choices are limited compared to Windows and I am not running Windows on any machines at this time.  CocoaModem 2.0 was the choice for me.  Aside from PSK31, this software does other digital modes like RTTY, Wideband CW, and the crazy sounding Hellschreiber mode.  There’s an excellent User’s Manual that you’ll need to check out as well.  Many great reviews were read and it is a free download.  The software was installed and ready to go!

We all know that computers can either be for us or against us.  At first, the thought of interfacing a computer with the radio gave me visions of a tangled mess of frustrating problems.  I was completely wrong!  After receiving the SignaLink USB and cable, I simply connected everything as specified.  After turning the radio on and launching CocoaModem, I made a couple of setting changes in the software Config window to specify the input and output sources (USB Audio Codec to be specific).  A couple of quick clicks in the System Preferences/Sound menu to change the input and output sources and before I knew it I was looking at a very active “waterfall” display of PSK31 data!  It really was that easy!

After some time “listening” to other QSOs, I decided to give it a try.  I made my first PSK31 contact with Tom (K8TOM) in Washington and the logbook is filling up quickly!  While I am still learning, I have been enjoying this new mode.  It is perfect for someone interested in QRP, portable ops, or something different.  

If you are interested in trying this, or any other digital modes, there is a wealth of information online as well as your fellow knowledgeable operators willing to help you along.  Friendly reminder...  keep the power low, stay within your license class privileges and be sure to check out the band plan before you “strut your stuff”.  

Have fun with PSK31 and I hope to see you in the “waterfall”!

Your HF reception solution: webSDR, part two

This continues from the previous post, which outlines how to use the HTML5-based webSDR receiver in the Netherlands. The other receivers at the webSDR site require you to go through an "enabling" process once for each receiver, in order to allow Java to work. Without "enabling" Java for that particular receiver, you won't be able to see the "waterfall" or hear the audio on that receiver.

This "enabling" process is outlined here, and I'll repeat it below and walk you through the steps. It's not hard.

Fortunately, it still is possible to run unsigned applets, but only if you explicitly tell your computer from which websites applets should be accepted. So in order to use a WebSDR, you first have to add its URL to a list of acceptable Java sites. (Applets from other sites, including malicious ones, will still be blocked.)
On Windows/Mac, you can find this list by going to the system control panel or System Preferences and choosing Java (you may want to use the control panel's search function); then choose the Security tab, and click on "Manage Site List". Then there's an "Add" button to add a URL to the list. Put the complete URL there, like http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ , so including the http part.

I've enabled several receivers without trouble. This security requirement by Oracle is intended to prevent your computer from being compromised by "malicious sites", but these SDRs are not malicious. Having said that, I am not your PC tech support and you assume all of the risk involved in creating these Java "exceptions". I only have Windows XP, so you'll have to improvise and infer from context if you are using other operating systems.

First, go to your "Control Panel". It should be in the menu when you click the "Start" icon. If this step baffles you, then you probably shouldn't be attempting this in the first place. Assuming that you can find your "Control Panel", double-click on it. You should see this:

Notice that I've highlighted the "Java" icon. Double-click that icon. It will open the controls for Java. At the top of that box is a tab labelled "Security". Click that tab. You should see something like this:

Again, this is the view with the "Security" tab already clicked. Initially, the Java controls will open with the "General" tab open. In the "Security" tab, make sure that the box marked "Enable Java content in the browser" is checked. Toward the bottom, you will see the "Exception site list". The box underneath is where you are going to enter the URL (web address) for each receiver that you want to listen to. Notice that I already have two added -- a receiver in Australia and another in Andorra.

Simply copy the website address for the receiver from the listing on the webSDR site. It's on the left side, in the centre, of the listing for each receiver. Then, click "Edit Site List" (lower right of the Java control box), and a new box will open. Click "Add" in that new box. It should look like this, only without the two receivers that I already have in there.

You're almost there! Next, paste the URL into the empty line labelled "Location". You will have to use the Ctrl+V method to do the paste. If that baffles you, then manually type the URL in. Then click "OK" at the bottom of the "Exception Site List" box, and again at the bottom of the "Java Control Panel".

Okay...now you can go to the URL that you put in the exception list and use that receiver. You have to go through this whole process for each receiver that you want to listen to.

When you go to the receiver site -- say the one in Andorra at http://ardam-andorra.no-ip.org:8901/ -- the page will load and you will see a prompt asking you if want run Java on this site. Click the box marked "Run". You'll have to do this last step every time you go to the receiver's page, even though you created an "exception", but only once every time that you open that page.

If you did everything correctly, you will see the "waterfall" and hear sound in your speaker or headphones immediately after clicking "Run".

The SDR is operated exactly the same as the Netherlands' HTML5 receiver explained in the previous post.
Enter a frequency in kilohertz, or choose one the bands from the selection underneath the "Frequency" box. Different receivers will have a different selection of bands to choose from, and you should make sure that the SDR that you add covers the band that you want to listen to before you go through the process of creating a "Java exception". The bands covered by each receiver are shown in the listing for the receiver at websdr.org. The Andorra receiver shown above covers 80, 40, 60, and 20 metres. It has decent antennae, and is located for excellent reception of European HF signals.

Again, I can't tell you how to do this for other operating systems. This is the method that I use. If it doesn't work for you, then you are pretty much on your own and you should spare me your angry emails. I didn't invent Java, Windows, or SDRs.

There's another SDR in New Jersey that covers 10, 6, and 2 metres -- along with 80, 40, and 20 -- if you want to listen to signals closer to home. Bear in mind that there's a lot of latency in these receivers, and what you hear on them will "lag" from what you hear on an RF receiver in real-time. For this reason, you can't use them as your real-time receiver as you transmit on your ten-metre rig, for example. But you can use these SDRs to determine if your signal can be heard in the SDR's location.

There are Android apps to decode PSK, RTTY, and CW signals. I just place my smartphone near the computer speaker, and the app converts the signals into text with a bit of fine-tuning. It's a great way to expose yourself to HF signals beyond single-sideband (SSB) voice.

If you're a new ham without an HF receiver, or you can't put up a big dipole at your place, or you suffer from strong local interference on HF frequencies, then these webSDRs will open up a whole new world for you. For that matter, you don't need an amateur radio licence at all to listen to these signals. Some will whine and moan about webSDRs being another example of the internet replacing "real" ham radio, and how the whole thing is 'cheating' in some mysterious way. Whatever. Yeah, we should all build our radios from kits, build loop antennae, and churn our own butter, too. The internet is here. It's not going away. Deal with that.

Your HF reception solution: webSDR, part one

HF is very different from FM operation, even in terms of reception. You have a variety of modes that require different approaches in order to receive properly. Some people still remember the days when short-wave was relevant and many countries had their own radio services operating. Those days are largely gone now, with only a few countries still making broadcasts, and the schedule is greatly reduced. But this was an example of AM mode being used. Those garbled transmissions that you may have heard were using SSB (single sideband), and there were stations transmitting Morse code (CW) that the traditional AM receivers couldn't receive very well. This doesn't even consider the digital PSK, RTTY, and Hell modes heard on short-wave that you zipped by because it was just noise.

FM is pretty simple. You just set the squelch to block out the background noise, and the signal is either strong enough to be readable or it isn't. Receiving "weak-signal" modes (SSB, CW, digital, AM) is more challenging, whether it's on HF or VHF. You have to sort out the correct mode, choose the best filter, adjust the RF gain to make the best use of your AGC, and fine-tune the signal for best readability. It's not intuitive, and it's far more difficult than the relatively simple operation of transmitting.

Weak-signal reception is a skill, and its highly reliant on the quality of your antenna. For HF, a whip used for VHF is not going to give you very good reception. Only the strongest stations will be heard, and probably only one side of the conversation at that. So how do you learn this skill, especially if you don't have the opportunity to put up a big antenna, or if you are plagued by electrical interference?

Well, you can try VHF weak-signal operation, though there's not a lot of activity to practise with. Even then, you'll need a horizontal antenna, rather than your vertical whip, to do a good job of picking up those signals.

Or you can use a web-based SDR (software-defined radio) and listen on your computer. You don't need to have an antenna capable of picking up stations in Europe. You just use a receiver located in Europe, and operate that remotely. You can tune it just a like a physical radio that you would have in your home, and set the frequency, mode, and filters on your computer.

The best place to find a wide variety of these SDR's is on websdr.org. There are 86 receivers available, operating on different bands, and in different locations. Most are in Europe. They are fully-controllable, and multiple people can be on the same receiver at once.

I've used these receivers for years, mostly to listen to PSK and CW, and mostly in Europe. It's a good way to learn Morse code, too, as you have an abundance of "copy" sent at different speeds for you to learn with. The big issue, which only surfaced in January 2013, is that these receivers almost all use Java. Oracle (the makers of Java) has now made Java difficult for the average user to make use of. There's a way to make it work, and I'll explain it in the second part of this subject post. But, for right now, let's look at an SDR that works on HTML5 and doesn't require a work-around.

A receiver in the Netherlands is found here. This is the most popular receiver, and has the widest range of frequencies available for reception. The antenna used is the weak link in the equation, but that's offset by its proximity to European stations. It's so popular, in fact, that it might be too busy to accept new listeners. It can handle a bit over 250 simultaneous users at once, but it can get more traffic than that at times.

Below is a screenshot of the relevant parts of the interface. Make sure that "HTML5" is selected for both "waterfall" and "sound", as is shown below. Enter your callsign, and make sure that the "waterfall" view is selected. You should immediately hear noise in your speakers or headphones once the page is loaded.

In the box marked "Frequency", type in a number -- in kilohertz, mind you. 7.020 MHz is, for example, 7020 KHz. Any frequency up to 29.999 MHz is available. Next, in the "Waterfall view" box, select "zoom in" -- perhaps two or three times -- which will narrow down the spectrum shown. You can zoom in more once you find a station that you want to listen to.

The next step is to choose a mode. If you want to listen to amateur voice signals, click on either "LSB" or "USB". If you are above 40M, you will probably want "USB". For short-wave broadcasts, choose "AM". For PSK, choose either LSB or USB, but you will probably want the narrow band bandwidth option -- e.g. "LSB-nrw". For CW, start with "CW-wide" and narrow it once you find a good signal.

Frequency is changed a few different ways. First, you can change the number typed into the "Frequency" box. Second, you can click on the "-" or "+" signs underneath that box. The shortest (right-most) minus sign, for example, will lower the frequency a mere 50 Hz with every click. Placing your mouse over one of the plus or minus buttons will show the size of the step. The third method is to drag the little trapezoid-shaped icon that's under the "waterfall" display to the signal that you want to receive.

You may be unfamiliar with the "waterfall" interface, but it's used in a lot of ham radio software. Basically, the waterfall scrolls upwards; the signals displayed at the bottom are the most current. You can control the size and speed of the "waterfall" in the "Waterfall view" box. The "waterfall" is a visual display of the frequency spectrum, and different kinds of signals display differently. CW, for example, is a "dotted line". For information on how various digital modes appear on a waterfall, go here. Rather than go into extensive detail, I'd suggest that you just experiment. Voice modes are going to appear much wider than digital or CW, and AM is going be a very wide "bar". I could post pictures, but the scale really depends on the level of "zoom" that you are using on the waterfall.

For example, the narrow bands showing on the left (but not extreme left) are digital modes and CW. On the right half, you see SSB (voice) signals, which are much wider.

If a high number of users are on the SDR, the connection will suffer and there may be drop-outs.

In my next post on this subject, I'll detail how to use the other, Java-based, SDR's. The short answer is found here. You have to add the URL of each SDR that you want to use to the control panel as an exception. You can probably figure it out from the instructions on the link, but I'll be be making detailed steps for those that are somewhat "tech-challenged".

There is an Android app called "Droid PSK" (it works on other Android phones than the Droid), that you can use with the SDR to "decode" digital PSK signals. You simply place your phone near your computer speaker with the app running, and slide the red line to the particular station that you want. The signal shows up as text within the app. There's also an app made by the same developer that translates Morse code into text the same way. These two apps can open up the possibilities for you beyond voice modes.