{hacking,music,electronics,radio}

Here are the toots from my Mastodon account. If you’re into ham radio and technology this is a great inclusive server with an awesome mascot called Alex.

It's Alex! A soft brown mastodon holding a handheld radio in their right hand and carrying a blue bag over their shoulder

Alex, the mastodon.radio mascot

Posted status:

WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc2 and MAP65 3.0-rc2 are out.

The focus is still on Q65 and EME so worth a look if you use those.

Announcement at: https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/37311453/

Release notes: https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt

You can also browse the mailing list archives using https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/wsjt-devel/ (I’m always surprised sourceforge still exists).

#hamradio

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Posted status:

WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc1 and MAP65 3.0-rc1 are out.

I have not really heard of MAP65, but the notes say if you use it for EME you should try this RC.

Announcement at:

https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/37295246/

Release notes at: https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt as always.

Have fun!

#hamradio

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Posted status:

WSJT-X 2.4.0 GA is out.

This adds Q65 (a new mode) and some decoder enhancements (as well as a few other things mentioned in the notes).

Release notes at: https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt

Announcement at:

https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/37288737/

and since I’ve not looked at it for a while, user guide at: https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main-2.4.0.html#NEW_FEATURES

:radio_base: :radio_tower:

#hamradio

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Posted status:

Let’s try this again (corrected URL, thanks @vautee)

I posted my notes on getting the digirig working:

https://hackerific.net/2021/04/24/digirig-ft818nd-with-wsjt-x/

Basically: it works, it’s cool and tiny and I learned the FT818 does CAT based PTT.

#hamradio

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Posted status:

I posted my notes on getting the digirig working: http://localhost:1313/2021/04/24/digirig-ft818nd-with-wsjt-x/

Basically: it works, it’s cool and tiny and I learned the FT818 does CAT based PTT.

#hamradio

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Posted status:

I got a digirig after seeing someone here post about them. It arrived earlier this week and I just made some cabled to connect it to the FT818.

So far I am super impressed! Also, I learned the 818 can do CAT controlled PTT.

Details at: https://digirig.net/why-digirig/ and https://www.qrz.com/db/K0TX. I’ll write up my experiences shortly.

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Posted status:

I wrote a blog about my new split keyboard https://hackerific.net/2021/04/08/building-a-sofle-keyboard/

I also put the QMK keymap on github: https://github.com/mattfoster/sofle-lefty-keymap

#mechanicalkeyboard

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Posted status:

Yesterday saw the release of two new WSJT-X versions: WSJT-X 2.3.1 (GA) and WSJT-X 2.4.0-rc4.

2.4.0-rc4 has tweaks to Q65 and various other changes. 2.3.1 has bug fixes, updated docs and a few other bits.

Announcement at: https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/37249076/

Release notes at:

https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt

:radio_base: :radio_tower:

#hamradio

The pace of changes to hamlib seems pretty fast at the moment, too. I don’t really keep track of that, but it might be worth a look: https://hamlib.github.io/

I keep meaning to try the utilities bundled in WSJT-X (and forgetting!)

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Posted status:

Also on the subject of keyboards I made myself a rev1 Sofle split board with Cherry Browns ( https://github.com/josefadamcik/SofleKeyboard).

I’m still tweaking the keymap and I’m not used to using it but it’s fun. The two screens look cool too.

Here’s a pic with Royal Nave 2 caps.

A sofle split keyboard with a braided cable connecting the left and right halves. It’s approximately 60% sized with letters, numbers and the other “important” keys like ctrl, GUI, enter, space etc.

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Posted status:

I just made myself a “Gherkin Express” 40% keyboard. It’s as big as a credit card, but fairly thick because I accidentally ordered the wrong size PCB.

Still, it worked once I filed the connector down! Instructions etc. at: https://www.40percent.club/2020/08/gherkin-express.html as well as endless awesome tiny keyboard projects.

A credit card sized unpopulated PCB sitting on top of the left half of a split ergonoic keyboard.

A PCB the size of a credit card with small pushbutton switches and a USB cable on the top left.

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