Random Wire Review 110: October 11, 2024
Newsletter interrupted because of travel (and more travel is coming); QSO because of APRS; new old gear; new new gear; and the routes we traveled between Portland and Wichita.
Contents
1. Radio Contact Because of APRS
2. New Old Gear
2.1 Grundig AM/FM/SW table radio
2.2 Audio-Technica AT2020 condenser microphone
3. New New Gear
3.1 Akaso Brave 7 action camera
3.2 AllScan UCI120 USB communications interface
3.3 WisMesh Pocket node
4. Closing
.-. .- -. -.. --- -- / .-- .. .-. . / .-. . ...- .. . .-- / -... -.-- / -.- .--- --... -
The previous issue — issue 109 — was published two weeks ago on September 27, 2024. I skipped last week’s issue because we were traveling (more on that in a moment). I’m tempted to skip this week’s issue because I’ve done precious little radio work over the past two weeks, but there are some items to report, so I’m proceeding with Random Wire Review issue 110 today.
Our travel over the past few weeks was a long road trip from Portland, Oregon to Wichita, Kansas. The nightly stops on the way to Wichita were: Portland to Twin Falls, Idaho; Twin Falls to Moab, Utah; Moab to La Junta, Colorado; and La Junta to Wichita, Kansas. We spent two days in Moab. The distance for the first leg of the trip: 1,825 miles.
The return trip was slightly different: Wichita to Fort Collins, Colorado; Fort Collins to Twin Falls, Idaho; Twin Falls to Pendleton, Oregon; and Pendleton to Portland, Oregon. The distance for the return journey: 1,751 miles. I’ve added maps of the two routes at the end of this newsletter.
Next week, I’m on the road Monday through Friday, with daily meetings and evening travel to the next meeting. My planned route tallies 1,100 miles of driving for the week so I suspect I’ll only get some VHF/UHF mobile radio time. We’ll have to see how the week goes.
.-. .- -. -.. --- -- / .-- .. .-. . / .-. . ...- .. . .-- / -... -.-- / -.- .--- --... -
1. Radio Contact Because of APRS
I had a very enjoyable QSO with Jeremy N0AW and Tim WW8L while driving in Colorado. When I’m driving, I’m running APRS on VFO-B and (usually) monitoring 146.52 MHz on VFO-A. While driving across eastern Colorado toward the Denver area, I happened to glance down at my Yaesu FTM-300DR radio and noticed two things: the volume was turned down and VFO-A was receiving traffic. I turned up the volume and heard someone calling my callsign! A few moments later the call was repeated and I responded to Jeremy N0AW.
Jeremy was also monitoring APRS. He saw my callsign and gave me a call. A few minutes later we connected with his friend Tim WW8L. They had been working POTA and were on their way back to their homes.
Later, I heard Jeremy and Tim on one of the Denver regional repeaters as I headed toward Fort Collins. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember how to program in the PL tone from the DTMF hand microphone so all I could do was listen in as they wrapped up their trip.
This was an unexpected benefit of running APRS while driving. While I wish such contacts were not quite so rare, I was very pleased to chat for several minutes with Jeremy and Tim. They were cordial and informative, exhibiting true amateur radio spirit.
.-. .- -. -.. --- -- / .-- .. .-. . / .-. . ...- .. . .-- / -... -.-- / -.- .--- --... -
2. New Old Gear
2.1 Grundig AM/FM/SW table radio
In issue 109, I reported on this radio purchase but had not yet received the radio. It arrived while we were on our way to Wichita. The radio was well packaged.
We arrived home two days ago (Wednesday) and yesterday I had a several-hundred-mile drive for a meeting, returning home late last night. I haven’t had time to do more than open the box and admire the looks of this big box. I’ll get it plugged in this weekend to check the sound. This device might be destined for my Olympia, Washington office!
I expect I’ll plug it in this weekend and see how it sounds.
2.2 Audio-Technica AT2020 condenser microphone
This microphone arrived the day after we left on the Wichita trip. I reported on it in issue 109. Last night, I plugged it in and tested it with Audacity and my MIC500USB pre-amp. It is a very sensitive microphone (not a surprise, since it is a condenser mic). In fact, it is probably too sensitive. The mic was picking up the slight whirring of the ceiling fan 15 feet away.
I think this would be a fantastic microphone for nature recording on a stand with a portable pre-amp or a portable recorder that can supply phantom power to the microphone. It is so sensitive that I removed it from my microphone boom and put the AT2005USB dynamic microphone back on the boom. The AT2005USB has been a solid, inexpensive performer in my home studio (translation: on my desk).
.-. .- -. -.. --- -- / .-- .. .-. . / .-. . ...- .. . .-- / -... -.-- / -.- .--- --... -
3. New New Gear
3.1 Akaso Brave 7 action camera
The action camera I reported on in issue 106 had a problem: it would not reliably connect to my smartphone. After several back-and-forth messages with the manufacturer, a return was authorized. I immediately sent it back but given how long it took to get the return authorization, I was pretty sure the replacement would not arrive before we left for Wichita. To give us action camera capabilities, I bought the Insta360 Ace action camera on sale (also reported on in issue 106).
The replacement Akaso Brave 7 arrived a few days after we left for Wichita. I opened the package two days ago and charged the battery. It connected to my smartphone very easily this time. I think, though, that what originally happened was the virtual private network (VPN) on my phone interfered with the wifi connection between the phone and the camera. I disabled the VPN this time and all went well.
Interestingly, the Insta360 Ace camera is temperature sensitive! I have been using it on a weighted stand on the dash of the pickup truck and on hot days, it shuts down because it gets too hot. I have to run the air conditioning up through the defroster vents to keep it cool enough that it does not shut down on a sunny day. I’m sure that if mounted outside in the open air, the camera would work very well because it would get ample cooling airflow.
3.2 AllScan UCI120 USB communications interface
I’m most excited by this new product offering from AllScan.info. The UCI120 arrived about a week ago and it was the first package I opened when we returned from Wichita.
I’ll call the first AllScan device — the ANR100 — version 1. The UCI120 represents a marked upgrade from the ANR100, so I think of it as version 2. Improvements include: comprehensive LED status indicators; mic gain and boost controls; line-out jack; I/O jack support for external devices; internal trimmer potentiometers; metal enclosure with filtering; bandpass filters; and supports full-duplex audio.
The more complete description of improvements is available at https://allscan.info/products/uci120/ and the vendor (David Gleason NR9V) provides a ton of information about the design and configuration of the device.
My Kenwood MC60A and Alinco EMS-57 microphones should work very well with this interface. I really like the flexibility the UCI120 provides when using audio-in devices.
I plan to take some time this weekend — in the brief moments when I’m not unpacking from the road trip and packing for the next one! — to hook up the UCI120 interface and get it configured. My desktop node 588412 is running on a Dell Wyse 3040 platform and David provides clear configuration directions for the 3040. This will be interesting to compare 588412 because that node currently operates through one of David’s ANR100 devices. The UCI120 is a significant upgrade from the ANR100!
3.3 WisMesh Pocket node
Near the end of July, I ordered a RAKwireless WisMesh Pocket All-in-one Meshtastic Handheld 915 Mhz Radio with LoRa Antenna & GPS. It failed to operate properly soon after I received it. I had several conversations with the good folks at Rokland and just received a replacement a few days ago. I immediately charged it and booted it up. This one has been stable so far (fingers and toes crossed for luck). It is running as node “Random Wire 3” (or RW3). I really want this RAK-based device to be a solid performer because of the way it sips power from the battery.
The WisMesh device is a slightly chunky little thing with very simple controls. I do like that it has a sliding on-off switch.
.-. .- -. -.. --- -- / .-- .. .-. . / .-. . ...- .. . .-- / -... -.-- / -.- .--- --... -
4. Closing
The route we took from Portland to Wichita crossed Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado on our way to Wichita, Kansas:
We chose to spend a few days in Moab, Utah, and then visit a friend in southwest Colorado on the way to Wichita.
Route from Wichita to Portland:
On the way back, I wanted to see a bit more of northern Colorado and southern Wyoming so we took a slightly more northerly route for part of the return trip.
I also ran APRS for most of the trip. The aprs.fi track for the return trip showed pretty good coverage with APRS except for the most remote stretches.
I also ran a Meshtastic node the whole way. Meshtastic was definitely a popular mode around Boise, Idaho and again around Salt Lake City, Utah.
.-. .- -. -.. --- -- / .-- .. .-. . / .-. . ...- .. . .-- / -... -.-- / -.- .--- --... -
I look forward to sharing how the old Grundig and new UCI120 devices work.
73 to all!