Update 2022-12-02 - the most recent version of this information is Zero Retries 0075 Omnibus of Zero Retries Interesting Information.
The topics I discuss in my newsletter Zero Retries are… varied (to be charitable). I do try to keep them roughly aligned with the theme Technological Innovation in Amateur Radio. In my mind (as Editor), these varied topics are a continuum, but as new subscribers trickle in, I certainly don’t blame them for not exhaustively reading the 50+ previous issues (and counting) of Zero Retries to get up to speed. To help with that issue, I decided to devote every decadal issue, beginning with Zero Retries 0040, to a "brain dump" of Zero Retries Interesting projects, products, etc.
I didn't achieve that goal (of a single issue), and it ended up spread across Zero Retries 0039 and Zero Retries 0040 that published 2022-03-25 and 2022-04-01 respectively. To make it easier to reference that information, I created a web page that distilled the information in those hose two issues into a single reference that's easier to browse.
This page does the same for information spread across Zero Retries 0050, Zero Retries 0051, and Zero Retries 0052.
Just because you don’t see a thing mentioned in this reference doesn’t mean a particular thing isn’t cool or interesting. There’s only so much space that Substack (the platform for publishing Zero Retries) allows, so I have to be terse. Some things belong in more than one category, but for economy of space, I’ll only list a thing once in the category that (in my opinion) fits most closely. I suggest you read the following references as mentally prepending the title as “If you’re interested in X, then check out these Ys”.
This list is but a smattering of just how much technical innovation IS occurring in Amateur Radio. And yet, you only read about a “smattering of this smattering” in the “Amateur Radio Publishing Industrial Complex”, and I don’t just mean the two leading US Amateur Radio magazines. To a great extent, the Amateur Radio YouTube hosts are just as guilty of not showcasing the breadth of technological innovation that is occurring. It’s maddening to see “innovation” reduced to the newest, shiniest HF radio, or portable, or ? To me, what is most encouraging about Amateur Radio innovation is the totality of the technological innovation that’s occurring.
Zero Retries is just one voice in Amateur Radio, operating with no budget, with one writer. You’d think there would be more, and better funded such efforts. I agree that there should be.
This page should not be considered comprehensive, and lack of inclusion here should not be considered as lack of endorsement as “Zero Retries Interesting”. Much good stuff was not included simply due to limited space. Apologies in advance for terse / incomplete descriptions - see the links for detail.
Many of these items have been discussed previously in Zero Retries - just Search Zero Retries.
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Conferences
Digital Communications Conference (DCC) - This is the big one for technological innovation in Amateur Radio (don’t let the underwhelming web page fool you). This conference has been held for decades now and some of the most amazing developments in Amateur Radio were first revealed at DCC.
GNURadio Conference (GRCon) - This is the big one for open source Software Defined Radio, with a healthy mention of Amateur Radio.
DEF CON - The Hacker’s Conference has a lot of activity regarding radio technology and a significant Amateur Radio presence.
Cost Is No Object
Ya gotta dream at times…
FlexRadio 6400M with Q5 Signal 5-Band High Power VHF/UHF Transverter - I told the story of this combination in The Ultimate Software Defined (Mostly Data) Radio in Zero Retries 0034. Combine with a self-supporting collapsible tower (for easy antenna work) and assorted antennas.
Fast Data - If I was ever offered a blank check to set up a cool, “high speed” data system for a small group of Amateur Radio Operators that wanted to have a data system that “just works, reasonably fast, pretty reliably”, these are the elements of a system I would build in 2022:
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Icom IC-9700 as user radios because it includes the 1240-1300 MHz band and “Digital Data Mode” - 128 kbps and an Ethernet Interface.
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With every IC-9700, a Raspberry Pi to handle the DD data (TCP/IP applications such as Post Office Protocol (POP) email, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) email, Bulletin Board System (BBS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), web server, web client, etc.)
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Icom ID-RP1200VD 1240-1300 MHz D-Star Digital Voice (DV) / Digital Data (DD) Repeater, configured for DD Mode. Installed on a great site (high tower or mountaintop), probably commercial, with very low-loss hardline and a high-gain, robust antenna, and a power amplifier rated for 100 kHz channel (repeater output power is a mere 10 watts). Part of the blank check would be to fund ongoing expenses for this system to be on a commercial radio communications site.
Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) aka Moonbounce - One of the ultimate fantasies of Amateur Radio… at least for me… is a bucolic summer night when Luna is full in the sky and having an antenna array pointed at Luna, and a radio system tuned to the most popular EME frequencies such as 144-148 MHz or 420-450 MHz and listening to the conversations from all over the world bouncing off Luna. Better antenna systems (which are more expensive) and power amplifiers make for more EME fun.
Starlink - In my opinion, Starlink is the most stable Internet access for Amateur Radio use because it’s relatively immune to local Internet outages such as damage to fiber, power outages, etc. If you want to provide backup communications in your community / neighborhood via Winlink, APRS-IS, etc. , Starlink is ideal as it will work as long as it has power (and open sky). It’s even more useful now that Starlink has enabled nomadic use.
Digital Voice
To my mind, an easy mental model to understand the M17 Project is a Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) re-implemented as open source, for Amateur Radio. M17 is implementing the protocol, networking, some data capability, and especially the use of the CODEC 2open source digital voice encoder / decoder (CODEC).
Multi Mode Digital Voice Modem (MMDVM) is open source software to use of any / all digital (and some analog) voice modes for Amateur Radio. It can even be used to implement repeaters that will “pass through” any digital voice (or analog, such as FM) voice. MMDVM hardware is available from a number of vendors.
Amateur Radio ThumbDV by Northwest Digital Radio provides a (licensed) CODEC chip for interoperating with proprietary digital voice systems. Attaching a ThumbDV to your network and a system such as AMBEserver allows encoding and decoding of digital voice.
Brandmeister is a system for linking Amateur Radio digital voice repeaters (mostly Digital Mobile Radio - DMR) via Internet. Brandmeister promotes open access and experimentation in repeater linking.
email via Amateur Radio
Winlink is the primary method of email via Amateur Radio because of its integrated handling of Internet email, provided software, and well-proven techniques, and a very wide ecosystem of organizations that use it, users, training, etc.
On HF, VARA HF and Pactor are the most common connection types. On VHF / UHF, 1200 bps AFSK packet radio is the most common connection type, but VARA FM is becoming common because of its speed (up to 25 kbps) and reliability (includes Forward Error Correction) advantage over packet radio. AREDN networks are also being configured to include a Winlink gateway.
PiGate makes it easy to set up a publicly accessible gateway that allows public users to send (emergency) email via Winlink, such as at a mass casualty shelter.
Funding for Amateur Radio Systems, Promotion, and Research
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) is a private philanthropic foundation that provides grants in three broad areas:
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Support and growth of Amateur Radio
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Education
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Research and development
HF Data Communications
fldigi Modes - Another suite of digital / data modes designed for HF (some of which, such as FSQ - Fast Simple QSO, are quite usable on VHF / UHF FM).
FreeDATA - Adaptation of the robust and spectrally efficient technology of FreeDV (digital voice) for text messages and data. My thanks to Kevin Opalka KL1V for mentioning FreeDATA.
JS8Call - One plaint about using the WSJT-X modes (see below) is that they’re designed for “no chat, just log it” contacts. JS8Call adapts the highly robust WSJT-X technologies for chatting, and also provides for APRS transmissions for position, status reports, email, phone-text messages, etc. that can be gatewayed into the APRS Internet backbone.
TAPR WSPR Boards - Inexpensive boards (kits), plus a Raspberry Pi, plus a modest HF antenna are all you need to operate a WSPR transmitter (beacon). The 10-meter (28.0 - 29.7 MHz) version can be used with the US Technician class license, thus that is a great project for new Amateur Radio Operators.
VARA HF - High Performance HF modem using OFDM modulation. VARA Chat is a companion app from the author of VARA that provides chat and file transfers. VarAC is another app that provides chat based on VARA HF.
WSJT-X Modes - If you have any doubt that Amateur Radio has entered into a brave new world where digital / data modes will dominate Amateur Radio, just experiment with some of the WSJT-X modes to see just how amazing radio technology really is.
Interesting Projects In Development
“In development” is the operative phrase for items in this section; they’re in the process of being readied for full release, or in the pre-crowdfunding stage, etc.
Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications (DLARC) - An initiative of the Internet Archive, funded by a major grant from ARDC. Based on their stated timeline, we should see an announcement by late 2022.
GroundSat - A concept (for which I could not find a definitive web page) of installing the equivalent of an Amateur Radio satellite linear transponder (such as uplink on 144 MHz and downlink on 420-450 MHz) on a terrestrial site such as a very high tower or mountaintop. This concept has been around for a long time, but (think…) I’ve seen recent (passing) references to it in Open Research Institute’s Phase 4 Ground Station and Phase 4 Space projects.
ka9q-radio - A project by Phil Karn KA9Q that “virtualizes” a single Software Defined Receiver into multiple instances of receiver modules that enables an entire VHF / UHF band to be monitored simultaneously through the use of IP multicasting.
RHIZOMATICA High-frequency Emergency and Rural Multimedia Exchange System (HERMES) - Innovative built-from-scratch system that uses High Frequency (HF) radio as a backbone for exchanging email in very rural areas.
RPX-100 - A project by Austrian Amateur Radio Society (ÖVSV) to develop a 6 meter (50-54 MHz) / 2 meter (144-148 MHz) / 70 centimeter (440-450 MHz) radio based around a Software Defined Transceiver (LimeSDR Mini).
SOCORAD32 - Crowdfunded (in progress) hackable, open source ESP32 Amateur Radio board in portable form factor including voice and data.
Tangerine SDR - A project by TAPR to develop an HF Software Defined Transceiver with unique characteristics to support HamSCI.
VXSDR-20 - Crowdfunded (in progress) high performance Software Defined Transceiver covering 5-20 GHz.
General plug for Crowd Supply - As you’ll see in this section, many innovative radio technology projects are choosing to crowdfund via Crowd Supply.
Interoperability via Internet
44Net is an allocation of 12 Million IPv4 Internet Addresses dedicated to Amateur Radio experimentation and networking. One significant feature of 44Net is that Amateur Radio operators can be allocated static and routable IPv4 addresses. 44Net is administered by Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC). Any Amateur Radio Operator, or groups of Amateur Radio Operators, can request an allocation of 44Net IP addresses.
44net.cloud - A prototype / proof of concept for access into 44net via a Virtual Private Network. This service was set up by a member of ARDC’s Technical Advisory Committee.
Media
Very few Amateur Radio “media” meet the “high bar” of “Zero Retries Interesting”. A few that do are:
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SuperPacket blog
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TAPR Packet Status Register newsletter
(I’m very, very interested of hearing about other “media” that are Zero Retries Interesting - please let me know about any that are interesting to you in the same vein as Zero Retries.)
Networking on VHF / UHF - Hardware
The NinoTNC is a KISS TNC developed to support TARPN networks.
The Nexus DR-X is a kit (some assembly, including soldering, required) of add-on boards for a Raspberry Pi computer. It is very well-supported by a software image that implements many Amateur Radio modes.
My current personal favorite radio for VHF / UHF networking is the Kenwood TM-V71A. Despite reports of it being out of production, it’s the Dracula of Amateur Radios - it keeps rising from the dead, with new units continuing to be available. In 2022, Yaesu introduced the FTM-6000R which includes a “flat audio” interface for data communications that is the primary feature of the TM-V71A.
The Masters Communications DRA series of audio adapters are widely considered to be the best (wide bandwidth) audio interfaces for fastest data communications (using a radio such as the TM-V71A or FTM-6000R) with modes such as VARA FM.
The Tigertronics SignaLink USB is the easiest and best-supported audio adapter to use for data communications in Amateur Radio, but it doesn’t support the highest speeds of data communications such as VARA FM.
The MFJ-1270PI is an add-on board for a Raspberry Pi.
As an example of the ongoing technological innovation in Packet Radio networking, Dire Wolf and the NinoTNC have implemented 9600 bps (and faster?) data rates and Forward Error Correction (FEC). Improved Layer 2 Protocol (IL2P) is an integrated FEC method developed as an alternative for AX.25 for the NinoTNC. Dire Wolf has implemented both IL2P (in development branches), as well as FX.25 which adds a FEC method that is interoperable with AX.25. Both IL2P and FX.25 make 9600 bps communications much more usable as they can correct single bit errors without retries, unlike AX.25.
A feature of newer radios of Icom’s D-Star system is DV Fast Data Mode which inserts data into the voice portions of a D-Star transmission. DV Fast Data Mode achieves 3480 bps instead of the usual ~900 bps data rate of D-Star. DV Fast Data Mode is supported by all (?) D-Star DV repeaters. Although the primary software for D-Star data is D-RATS, a quick look at the D-RATS website doesn’t show any mention of DV Fast Data Mode.
New Packet Radio, despite the name, has no commonality with “traditional” Amateur Packet Radio. It achieves 500 kbps in a 100 kHz channel on the Amateur Radio 420-450 MHz band, and is based on TCP/IP (and connects via Ethernet).
Packet Radio networking on Amateur Radio VHF / UHF is now multiple decades old. Despite this maturity, new packet radio networking techniques are continually being developed. BPQ32 by John Wiseman G8BPQ has been refined over decades and is an omnibus software suite that provides network node, bulletin board system (BBS), chat server, email, and TCP/IP interoperability. JNOS , XRPi (previously, Xrouter), and URONode have similar capabilities to BPQ32, including TCP/IP interoperability, network node, BBS, email handling, and APRS iGate integration.
Terrestrial Amateur Packet Radio Network (TARPN) is a networking philosophy that packet radio networks should consist of nodes of multiple simplex links on unique frequencies. TARPN provides a software image for a Raspberry Pi and copious documentation for creating TAPRN networks.
Dire Wolf is a software Terminal Node Controller (TNC) that implements all of the elements of a hardware TNC, only requiring an audio interface and a host computer such as a Raspberry Pi. Using the compute capability of the host computer, Dire Wolf provides far more accurate decoding of packet signals, and also provides APRS digipeater and Igate functions. Unlike a hardware TNC, Dire Wolf can be accessed via a TCP/IP network (via sockets) and can also be accessed via “KISS” interface. SV2AGW Packet Engine is a similar software TNC with some applications for APRS.
Networking on 1240 MHz and Above
Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) is a system for microwave networking consisting of replacement firmware for Wi-Fi and Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) hardware based on OpenWRT. Key features of AREDN include automatic / dynamic mesh networking, operation on Amateur Radio exclusive portions of spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band, and no encryption. AREDN networks are rapidly growing within Amateur Radio.
HamWAN is an “engineered” (non-dynamic) network system that began in Seattle, Washington, USA, and has been replicated in other areas.
HAMNET (Highspeed Amateur radio Multimedia NETwork) is a network in Europe consisting mostly of microwave networks.
A development in the last few years is that some Mimosa Networks units for microwave networking in the 10 GHz band are compatible with the Amateur Radio 10.0 - 10.5 GHz band. For sales of their 10 GHz units in the US, Mimosa Networks requires proof of Amateur Radio license.
Point to Point (P-P) and Point to Multipoint (PMP) operating in license-exempt portions of spectrum (Part 15 rules) such as 5.8 GHz, such as the MikroTik LHG HP5, are not incompatible with Amateur Radio. One advantage of such usage of Part 15 devices and spectrum is that encryption is allowed.
Organizations
TAPR is a unique organization within Amateur Radio. From their About page:
TAPR is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization of amateur radio (“ham”) operators who are interested in advancing the state of the radio art. The initials stand for “Tucson Amateur Packet Radio” but today the organization is much broader than that: we long ago became an international organization, and while we still support packet radio our areas of interest have expanded to include software defined radio, advanced digital modulation methods, and precise time and frequency measurement.
TAPR’s main activities are education and knowledge sharing through conferences, publications, and Internet resources; and research, development, and sales of unique products that assist amateurs and other experimenters. TAPR strongly endorses technology sharing, and in 2007 released one of the first licenses designed for open hardware projects, the TAPR Open Hardware License. With rare exceptions, all hardware and software developed with TAPR support is licensed under open source or open hardware terms.
HamOpen is a new organization. From their web page:
Our purpose is to act as an umberlla 501(c)3 for funding of Open Source projects for Amateur Radio. We are a registered Public Benefit Non-Profit Corporation in the state of California.
We are filing our 1023 application to be a 501(c)3 with the IRS. We had that professionally prepared. But the IRS will probably take months to approve it. There will be more information as there is time to develop the web site.
Software Defined Receiver / Transmitter / Transceiver (VHF / UHF / Microwave)
ADALM-PLUTO - This is the easiest and most accessible Software Defined Transceiver I’m aware of. It’s fully compatible with GNU Radio and thus is a fantastic learning tool… which is its primary audience, though it’s used a lot in Amateur Radio.
CaribouLite RPi HAT - An unusual Software Defined Transceiver that will work up to 6 GHz that’s optimized in both form factor and function to work with the small, but capable Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. It was crowdsource funded earlier in 2022, and the developers claim they’re on track to begin producing them later in 2022.
Halo TD-XPAH - Radio for 902-928 MHz based on 802.11ah and 802.11s.
LimeSDR Mini 2.0 - The original version of this Software Defined Transceiver was very popular, but the required components became unobtanium, so it has been redesigned with more readily available (and more capable) components.
KrakenSDR - Basically 5x Software Defined Receivers integrated into a single board and operated on the same USB chain and fed by a single timebase, making it possible to discern signals arriving at different times into the various receivers. Think passive direction finding - no switching between units, no moving antennas. It’s my guess that this could probably be made into a very capable multi-band Software Defined Receiver, such as simultaneously monitoring the Amateur Radio 50, 144, 222 bands, and two of the three 10 MHz segments of the 420 - 450 MHz band.
Open IP over VHF / UHF - A project by David Rowe VK5DGR to create a system that will do native TCP/IP over VHF / UHF frequencies, at a data rate of up to 100 kbs, at a range up to 15 km (urban). The transmitter is a Raspberry Pi. The receiver is an RTL-SDR dongle. This system is mostly software. It sounds… speculative… but I’m not betting against VK5DGR. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
RTL-SDR.com Dongles - For a very small premium over the cheap-cheap versions, these Software Defined Receiver dongles are the best ones if you want to experiment inexpensively with Software Defined Radio (receive-only).
SDRPlay RSP-1A - My favorite “better than RTL-SDR” Software Defined Receiver. From memory, these can do up to 7 virtual receivers in any contiguous 10 MHz from 1 kHz through 2 GHz.
Space
Space is one of the “big three” raison d'êtres of Zero Retries.
AMSAT - You’d think there would be a coordinating body for all the various AMSAT organizations (so you could find the nearest “chapter” to you), but there isn’t (that I’m aware of). There are now many AMSAT chapters in many countries, each coordinating Amateur Radio satellites and Amateur Radio satellite activity in their respective countries and regions. AMSAT-NA is for North America (and owner of the amsat.org domain), AMSAT-UK is for the United Kingdom, and AMSAT-DL is for Germany.
ARISS / ARISS-USA - One of my proudest boasts as an Amateur Radio Operator is that there are two Amateur Radio stations on the International Space Stations, and when not being used for voice contacts with schools, they are often switched into APRS / packet radio digipeater mode, which can be a lot of fun for us data folks. Last year, ARISS-USA was established as an independent entity in the US, and it received a significant grant from ARDC to further their development efforts. One thing I didn’t know until recently that ARISS is actively planning for a future for Amateur Radio on space missions / systems beyond the International Space Station including private space stations and missions to Luna… and beyond.
CubeSat Simulator is a project by Alan Johnston KU2Y to make it possible to build a demonstration unit of a CubeSat, using 3D printed structural elements, populating a circuit board, and other common electronic components. The idea is to create a unit that can be held in one’s hand that illustrates the essential elements of a picosatellite, complete with batteries, solar panel, sensors, and a telemetry transmitter.
FalconSAT-3 is a mostly retired United States Air Force research satellite which included a packet radio store-and-forward Bulletin Board System (BBS) on Amateur Radio frequencies. All official USAF activity has been concluded and now FalconSAT-3’s is only used for Amateur Radio. Apparently its orbit is decaying, so it won’t be with us too much longer.
QO-100 is an Amateur Radio payload (transponder) on the Es’hail 2 geostationary satellite above the Eastern hemisphere. Uplink to QO-100 is on 2.4 GHz and downlink is on 10 GHz. There are many Amateur Radio experiments being conducted on QO-100, and it sure seems like a lot of fun.
SatNOGS is a network of [receive-only] satellite ground stations focused on tracking and receiving low earth orbit (LEO) cubesats, especially those involved in student research. An Amateur Radio license isn’t required to participate in SatNOGS as each ground station only receives. SatNOGS publishes how to build a compatible ground station, and some parts can be 3D printed, so a SatNOGS station is an excellent “Maker” project combining electronics, radio technology, and physical construction. There’s a very good Frequently Asked Questions page that gets you up to speed fast on SatNOGS.
WSJT-X JT4 / JT65 / Q65 modes - These are just three of the many amazing “Weak Signal Joe Taylor” modes; specifically designed to make it possible for modest Amateur Radio stations to work Earth-Moon-Earth (Moonbounce). Bouncing one’s signals off Luna… is just cool.
Special Categories
Amateur Radio Digital Television - Amateur Radio has been able to use “fast scan” television since shortly after television became commercially practical. A new generation of Amateur Radio Television based on digital technology is emerging, and those folks seem to be having a lot of fun!
The PiMod Zero is a pico television transmitter that works with a Raspberry Pi Zero. It’s intended to drive legacy analog televisions, but being mostly software, it seems like it could be adapted to (very low power) Amateur Television transmission.
Raspberry Pi Computers are mostly unobtainium at the moment, but they are the least expensive, most flexible, best supported, most power efficient microcomputers available at the moment, and in my opinion, the first choice for powering Amateur Radio projects.
Reticulum Network Stack - An amazing amount of work has gone into this project to (as I understand it) use any radio technology to form independent, secure mesh networks. Not quite applicable to Amateur Radio because of the strong encryption.
End (of this installment) of Zero Retries Interesting Projects, Products, etc. from Zero Retries 0050, 0051, and 0052. Look for the next installment concurrent with Zero Retries 0060 (approx. mid-August, 2022).
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Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Copyright © 2022 by Steven K. Stroh