Radios used during WRTC 2014

It was not too many years ago it was ICOM who was the prime radio for DXpeditions and for contests. Electraft now has that honor and I don't see anything on the horizon that is even coming close. And yes the operator can still make or break a contest. However with a great radio and a good antenna systems, it would be hard to not do good...

Facebook Says OK to Ham Calls As Alternate Name

Officially licensed amateur radio operators may now use their call sign as their alternate name, or nickname, on their individual Facebook profiles. This thanks to Richard Bobbitt, NW7OR, who recently organized a petition drive on the social media site in the hope of achieving this goal.

It turned out that Jeff Ferland, KB1PNB, who works at the Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park, California found the petition on an amateur radio Facebook Group to which he belongs. After doing a bit of research Ferland wrote the necessary code, then got it reviewed and approved.

To add your call Bobitt says to go to go to “Settings”, then click on “Edit Your Name.” In the middle of the page you will see the words “Alternate Name.” That’s where you can add your callsign.

Bobbitt says that the petition was originally the idea of Richard Allcorn, KW7PTL, without whom, this may not have happened so easily and quickly. Over 1000 hams on Facebook signed the petition within the first week or so after it was posted on the various Facebook ham radio pages.

(NW7OR)

Pietro Marino, IT9ZGY, Silent Key

The beacon of genuine and top level HAM activity in Sicily, Pietro Marino IT9ZGY, became Silent Key today, at age of 80. He was a superb example of HAM spirit and a great elmer for a lot of us. Licenced since 1952, over the years Pietro held  prominent  positions  within ARI, on both regional and national levels. He was an enthusiastic  contester and DXer, with 390/340 (Mixed), 377/338 (Phone) and  352/339  (CW)  Entities confirmed, and a lifelong passion for the Top Band.

Fake FTDI chips

It was only a matter of time before fake FTDI RS232-USB adapter chips began to appear.

http://zeptobars.ru/en/read/FTDI-FT232RL-real-vs-fake-supereal

This fascinating page shows how some anonymous Chinese company has created a fake FT232RL chip using a mask-programmable microcontroller, and printed it with the "FTDI" name and logo.

Like Prolific (the real Prolific company, that is) FTDI have updated their drivers to detect these fakes... but that also means that anyone who has bought a fake chip will have a non-working adapter.

The message is always the same: fakes are hard to spot, so buy only from reliable distributors.

FYI, the real FTDI company is a family-owned firm right here in Scotland's 'Silicon Glen'.

73 from Ian GM3SEK