San Diego Luncheon Recap

The PAPA San Diego Luncheon

at Cocina Del Charro on Saturday March 18, 2023

The PAPA San Marcos luncheon was another great time of getting together with PAPA friends. We had 27 folks in attendance enjoying Cocina Del Charro’s best.

Our three ham license test takers were all successful with a new Technician, a General upgrade and an Amateur Extra upgrade!

Of special note was a presentation by Phil Karn, KA9Q, on some Software Defined Radio (SDR) tools that he has been developing which are designed to provide unique capabilities to ham radio operators. These tools are designed to run on a Raspberry Pi or typical laptop computer under Linux. Most common SDR platforms are supported.

Using Phil’s software, it’s possible to monitor the entire VHF or UHF amateur spectrum all at once. This means that you can listen to all activity from 440 – 450 MHz at the same time. The software will demodulate every signal as they occur as well as display the active channels in tabular form. Think of this as a waterfall display that not only allows you to see the activity across the band but listen to it as well. The spectral data is stored so that you can go back in time to listen to activity on the band after it has already happened.

Phil is working with Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) group to integrate his technology into the Space Station voice repeater. This would provide multiple simultaneous inputs to the repeater allowing more amateurs to have access during a pass.

If you have not attended a luncheon or breakfast, I personally invite you to come on out and meet PAPA members. We look forward to our next San Diego Luncheon on April 15!

73 de Cecil WD6FZA

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Author: Ed KB6THO

Where shall I hike today?

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