Prepping For 2008 North American Sprint CW @ 0000UTC

I'm in the prepping mode before the hour when NA Sprint CW livens our airwaves. My doublet is deployed and the supporting mast now extends toward the ionosphere. That is 33-feet of push-up fiberglass. Next is testing N1MM Logger. Followed by positioning my keyboard and Bencher paddles for an evening worth of ham radio fun.

NA Sprint CW 2008 Goal(s).

• 50 Qs.
  
• 900 points.
  
• Operate the entire 4-hours.
  
• Effectively QSY according to Sprint rules.
• Have fun.
  

I'm also on Northern California Contest Club (NCCC) Team 3 this evening. All the best to everyone and if you are not busy join the fun inside stadium Earth. It's Sprint time!

KB and contest on.

TechCrunch50 Begins September 8th In San Francisco

TechCrunch50 gets underway September 8th in San Francisco. The conference will launch 50 companies in three days while highlighting scalable web businesses, start-up challenges, and examining the transition of technology in personal financing . Demopit? The purpose of the demopit is a hand-up for early-stage start-up ideas. Demo space is free. I will run the RSS feed on the blog through the duration of the conference. 73 from the shackadelic.

What Is Inside My Dell Dimension 2350 Personal Computer?

I have never explored my Dell Dimension 2350 until this evening. I'm at a point of curiosity more so wanting to learn that reaches beyond the 'on' button. And I'd like to understand my box and its technology just a little bit more.

A good place to begin is in the shack on a Friday evening.

Dell Dimension 2350 Specifications.

• Microprocessor type is a Pentium 4 running at 2.0 GHz and 400 MHz externally.
• L1 cache is 8 KB first-level.
• L2 cache is 256- or 512 KB [displayed in the system setup program] pipe lined burst, eight-way set associative, write-back SRAM.
  
• System chip set is Intel 845GL.
• DMA channels seven.
  
• System BIOS chip 2 Mb.
  
• System clock is 400 MHz data rate.
  
• Memory architecture is DDR SDRAM.
  
• Memory capacities 128, 256, or 512 MB.
  
• Maximum memory is 1GB.
• Video controller is integrated Intel 3D Extreme Graphics.
  
• DC power supply is 200 watts dissipating 683 BTU fully loaded without monitor.
  
• SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio sound card.
  

I have plenty to keep the neurons busy at least for a decade. And this evening I'm keen on learning about my Pentium 4 processor and SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio sound card. It seems everything in ham radio is moving toward the performance of one's processor and sound card. And learning brings greater satisfaction.

Processor.
There is more in the box than a processor and knowing one's processor number is important. First, my processor number is 845GL, and this number represents specific features capable of influencing my computing experience. Secondly, the number breaks out relative features within a processor brand family and it is not a measurement of performance. Consider, the following criteria before purchasing the next, next box such as 1.) processor brand, 2.) specific system configurations and, 3.) system-level benchmarks according to Intel.

Use performance-based perspectives when evaluating one's processor.

For example, the 845GL delivers the following features such as dedicated data paths delivering maximum bandwidth for I/O-intensive applications; high speed USB 2.0 offering up to 40x for demanding I/O-peripherals; and flexible memory technology for higher system performance. Additionally, if one is interested, a white paper on the 845GL chip is available for download here at the bottom of the page. An absolutely fascinating read for this geek.

SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio.

• The SoundMAX-class AD1985 audio codec features 6 channel, 5.1 surround sound output.
  
• Stereo microphone input.
  
• Variable sample rate conversion (SRC).
  
• Professional quality 103-dB output with 94-dB SNR.
• Analog enumeration capability.

I was hoping for a little bit more, especially, if I got this 'right' as my sound card. I can see the specifications but barely understand the meaning that is, what is going in inside the box and how does this help improve my contesting. Certainly, learning is fun and this evening I gained a paragraph worth of understanding my Dell Dimension 2350 personal computer. And that is better than yesterday.

If your interested in reading about how various contest programs (N1MM, Win-Test, and CW-Skimmer) communicate with a Yaesu FT1000MP then check out DH1TW's debugging the serial port.

Contest on.

ARRL On Twitter?

This one is taking ham radio's Twittersphere by storm. First, RadioMaxim whose account is no longer active then I get a note in my email box this evening. The ARRL is following you. That's right on as Newington, if this is Newington, is beginning to catch the new culture drift. However posting 'news feed only' is like a quarter of the conversation, the basic premise of Twitter is, "What are you doing?" Let's see what happens....

Lid Magazine Is Launched Into The Ionosphere

Humor is good medicine and Lid Magazine delivers a good dosage. The goal, "Lid Magazine is an online amateur radio magazine which is fighting the seriousness of the Amateur Radio hobby... We have taken the stance to lighten up make everything a fun read making it far more enjoyable for everyone involved." The staff at Lid is the who's who of NexGen ham radio; Paul MØTZO [Large LID], Peter M3PHP [Tall LID], Adam WY4N [Science LID], and Fabian DJ1YFK [CW LID]. This crew is turning on, tuning up, and operating. Turn on, tune up, and read Lid Magazine.

HamRadio2.0 Gets radiosport.us

Growth. Passion. Innovation. Pat, N8VW recently launched RadioSport.us and his site is powered by Drupal. And Drupal is an open source content management platform, "Equipped with a powerful blend of features, Drupal supports a variety of websites ranging from personal weblogs to large community-driven websites." N8VW's mission statement, "We are interested in providing a Web 2.0 enabled site to showcase Amateur Radio Contesting to the larger community in order to foster growth in this fun activity and to build a community around it." Join now, be counted as one of first ten at RadioSport.us and 73 from the shackadelic. Thanks Pat, N8VW!

Practicing With N1MM Logger

Learning N1MM Logger is an exercise in fun. I enjoyed, for the first time in my ham radio experience, a software controlled radio (SCR). Wow! Watching my band map fill with call signs from the telnet service provided by K7RA was exceptional. Then, without having to push a button on my Yaesu FT100, I switched between bands. Additionally, availability of information on my screen improved my situational awareness as well. That is a leap forward for my low-power, low-profile contesting endeavor.

On the other hand, RadioSport wisdom suggests practicing with one's chosen contest logging program. Familiarity breeds confidence. And this weekend I consumed several hours familiarizing myself with N1MM Logger basics. I took each sub-section and applied each suggestion. Some worked and I need additional time with others. Overall, I came away feeling confident enough, to meet the demands of the North American Sprint CW contest scheduled for September 7th at 0000UTC using N1MM.

Lessons Learned.

• Set-up practice log for the learning curve.
  
• Read the manual.
• I began with Setting up the program (Chapter 6), Basic functions (Chapter 7), Start a new contest log/open an existing contest log (Chapter 12), Tips and tricks (Chapter 35).
  
• Practice filling the band map and using the band map. Watch the frequency while clicking through the map.
  
• I found Tips and tricks really useful (Chapter 35).
  

Lessons To Learn.

• Work on the entersendmessage (ESM) function.
  
• Work on available window versus reliance on band map window. The manual suggests sorting the available window by frequency.
  

I'm looking forward to spending this season learning from N1MM Logger and having a blast with SCR as well. Ultimately, I came away with this impression, if the frequency is not in use, it is a CQ contest frequency.

Contest on.

Tomas, OK4BX said "Remote control always by the hand?"

Read comment here.

Just practicing for the software defined radio (SDR) human machine interface.

Contest on.

"Ham Radio blogging is hard work, ain't that right Radio Dawg?"

Contest on!

Gabri comments on Shackadelic, "Very clean and minimalistic setup!"

Read comment here.

I incorporated Feng Shui principles into the shackadelic. The back of my chair does not face either entrance. That works well with the flow of chi energy into and through the shackadelic. Likewise, I wanted to capture the shack of the future and your comment aptly described my goal.

Plus, an open space with vertical lines running between both doors gives a sense of creative flow. The next step is reorganizing the pictures on the wall while incorporating ham radio material such as QSL card holders and awards.

I noted your OpenId signature, very cool.

73 from the shackadelic.

nGenLog Team commented, "The main "next generation" part is that nGenLog is developed on the Microsft.Net platform."

Read comment here.

Many thanks to the nGenLog team for your effort and for developing a logging program that works with Windows XP or Vista. That is good news indeed.

I'm just arriving on board and learning about service-oriented architecture (SOA) and open source requirements (OSR). And I asked our ham radio Twitter network for links explaining SOA.

Hao He wrote, What is Service-Oriented Architecture, wherein SOA was explained. nGenLog, as I understand at this moment, works with Windows XP or Vista. Both are operating systems developed by Microsoft. He explained SOA is much like a CD and player, one does not need to 'purchase' a new player with each new CD because a CD works on many different players.

However, He suggested that many software systems are built with there own player and CD; I cannot purchase just the CD without the player. But, at face value, it does appear that nGenLog is capable of working on either Windows XP or Vista. I would consider that as two separate players as mentioned in He's article.

My appreciation goes out to the nGenLog team for your comment.

Contest on.

Toby, DH1TW commented "It's a bit hard to tell what really is the "next generation" part of nGenLog."

Read comment here.

For me, your comment is important because, what is the standard if a company is going to label a product as next generation? Read my interview with Toby, DH1TW for context on establishing industry standards.

What is service-oriented architecture (SOA)? According to Enterprise Decision Management (EDM), "One of the drivers for SOA is increasing agility—making it easier to dynamically reconfigure systems and thus businesses to face the challenges that emerge and change every day."

Conversely, EDM suggested, traditional programming does not deliver the needed agility because procedural logic is hard to change and far removed from the business problems it is trying to solve.

SOA & Web-Oriented Architecture (WOA).
Joe McKendrick wrote an interesting compare and contrast article regarding SOA and WOA. He stated, "WOA, of course, means everything from cloud computing to Software as a Service and on-demand and mashups and collaboration all other things Enterprise 2.0-ish."

Open Source.
"Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in," suggested by Open Source Initiative.

Furthermore, Open Source Initiative extends the discussion that is, open source is community. Certainly, my blog would not thrive without a robust community of active participants, in effect, a cluster of shared interest.

To Be or Not To Be NexGen?
For me, open community is not open source, Open Source Requirement (OSR) criteria--

• No intentional secrets.
• Availability - "The standard MUST be freely and publicly available (e.g., from a stable web site) under royalty-free terms at reasonable and non-discriminatory cost."
• Patents - "[B]e licensed under royalty-free terms for unrestricted use, or be covered by a promise of non-assertion when practiced by open source software."
• No agreements.
• No OSR-incompatible dependencies.

Many thanks Toby, DH1TW for my learning experience and helping me refine the meaning of next generation.

73 from shackadelic.