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Technical Stuff / Motorola MotoTRBO XPR7550 Tips and Tricks
« Last post by W1RC on November 25, 2023, 11:26:40 AM »
How To Program an XPR5550 Using Bluetooth.
On the 5550:
    1    Turn on Bluetooth
    2    Select FIND ME

On the Windows PC:
    1    Bluetooth symbol
2    Click the Bluetooth symbol on the menu bar at the bottom right of the PC.
    3    Select ADD A DEVICE from the pull down.
    4    Wait a few seconds, and when the 5550 shows up as a device (it will have the name you gave it in the CPS software).  Click on it.

    5    When the PC asks you to verify the device, click that you see the number on the device, even though you don?t. (Honesty will not get you far with Windows.)
    6    The 5550 will now ask you to accept to connection, click ?Accept? on the 5550.
    7    Click on Menu to go back to the normal 5550 screen.
    8    When the Bluetooth devices window opens on the PC, drag the 5550 icon to the desktop.

You are now ready to program. Here is what you do:
    1    Right click the 5550 icon on the PC desktop.
    2    Roll your cursor over ?Connect using? and click on ?Access point?
    3    Now, open the CPS software.
    4    Click on Bluetooth in the top menu. It will turn the background blue.
You are now connected to the 5550 and can do whatever you can do with the programming cord EXCEPT updating the firmware. That has to be done with a physical cable. You can Read, Write and Clone as you wish. If you have more than 1 5550, you will need to have a Bluetooth connection icon for each one of them, and, if you want them programmed the same, you will have to do one first, then clone it to the second one.

Gene / W4DSN

https://mrickey.com/2015/09/14/bluetooth-programming-for-motorola-radios/amp/
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NEAR-Fest XXXV April 26 & 27 2024 / Re: Excellent YouTube Music Videos.
« Last post by W1RC on November 09, 2023, 12:25:28 AM »
and a really great feature-length movie??

https://youtu.be/PaDPDFb4Bd0?si=WrO-tFeN4gjW8g27

The timing of this movie from 1977 couldn?t be better.  It is over two hours long.  We This is a true story.  You couldn?t make this up.  Incidentally, the Israeli army commander who led the rescue operation was Benjamin Netanyahu?s brother!

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NEAR-Fest XXXV April 26 & 27 2024 / Excellent YouTube Music Videos.
« Last post by W1RC on November 09, 2023, 12:02:25 AM »
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only known armed German military operation.
Weather Station Kurt (Wetter-Funkgerat Land-26) was an automatic weather station, erected by a German U-boat crew in Northern Labrador, Newfoundland in October 1943. Installing the equipment for the station was the only known armed German military operation on land in North America during the Second World War. Weather systems in temperate climates predominantly move from west to east. This gave the Allies an important advantage. The Allied network of weather stations in North America, Greenland and Iceland allowed the Allies to make more accurate weather forecasts than the Germans. German meteorologists had weather reports sent by U-boats and weather ships, such as the Lauenburg, operating in the North Atlantic. They also had reports from clandestine weather stations in remote parts of the Arctic and readings collected over the Atlantic by specially equipped weather aircraft.[1] However, the ships and clandestine stations were easily captured by the Allies during the early part of the war. Data from aircraft was incomplete as they were limited in range and susceptible to Allied attack. Regular weather reporting by U-boats put them at risk as it broke radio silence, allowing the Allies to locate them and track their movements by radio triangulation. Fourteen stations were deployed in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions (Greenland, Bear Island, Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land) and five were placed around the Barents Sea. Two were intended for North America. One was deployed in 1943 by the U-boat U-537, but the submarine carrying the other, U-867, was sunk. On September 18, 1943, U-537, commanded by Kapit?nleutnant Peter Schrewe, departed from Kiel, Germany on her first combat patrol. It carried WFL-26, codenamed "Kurt", a meteorologist, Dr Kurt Sommermeyer, and his assistant, Walter Hildebrant. En route, the U-boat was caught in a storm and a large breaker produced significant damage, including leaks in the hull and the loss of the submarine's quadruple anti-aircraft cannon, leaving it unable to dive and defenseless against Allied aircraft. This is close to Cape Chidley at the north-eastern tip of the Labrador Peninsula. Schrewe selected a site this far north as he believed this would minimize the risk of the station being discovered by Inuit people. Within an hour of dropping anchor a scouting party had located a suitable site and soon after Dr. Sommermeyer, his assistant and ten sailors disembarked to install the station. Armed lookouts were posted on nearby high ground and other crew set to repair the submarine's storm damage. For concealment, the station was camouflaged. Empty American cigarette packets were left around the site to deceive any Allied personnel that chanced upon it, and the equipment was marked as the property of the non-existent "Canadian Meteor Service" (although, at the time, the area was part of the Dominion of Newfoundland, not part of Canada). The crew worked through the night to install Kurt and repair their U-boat. They finished just 28 hours after dropping anchor and, after confirming the station was working, U-537 departed. It undertook a combat patrol in the area of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland during which it survived three attacks by Canadian aircraft, but sank no ships. The submarine reached port at Lorient, France on December 8, after 70 days at sea. The station was forgotten until 1977 when Peter Johnson, a geomorphologist working on an unrelated project, stumbled upon the German weather station. He suspected it was a Canadian military installation, and named it "Martin Bay 7". Around the same time, a retired Siemens engineer named Franz Selinger, who was writing a history of the company, went through Sommermeyer's papers and learned of the station's existence. He contacted Canadian Department of National Defence historian W.A.B. Douglas, who went to the site with a team in 1981 and found the station still there, although canisters had been opened and components strewn about the site. Weather Station Kurt was brought to Ottawa and is now on display at the Canadian War Museum.
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Amazing story, only discovered in 1977!

Weather Station Kurt was an automated radio-controlled weather outpost secretly established by Nazi Germany on the Labrador coast in Newfoundland in 1943, designed to provide critical meteorological data for military operations in the North Atlantic.
Despite its brief operational life, Kurt showcased advanced technology with its autonomous functioning and sophisticated instruments for measuring temperature, wind, and atmospheric pressure.

https://navalhistoria.com/weather-station-kurt/?fbclid=IwAR1igWlIdMj2iIAB4dWp04tJLsbg-76Qh8xPwt0CuEfxb8-EmBuAQ-R3INs_aem_AVqvUV-9kfTy4L7zHtYXTOeDAGCPwNXAWDYvGVjuDJEmZrRd7lbiVWFmurlQH6ThZSs#google_vignette


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Station_Kurt#
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NEAR-Fest XXXV April 26 & 27 2024 / Door Prizes (DRAFT)
« Last post by W1RC on October 29, 2023, 01:46:05 PM »


Door Prizes: There are no unwanted prizes at NEAR-Fest!  Winner may choose their prize from the prize pool.  Winner must be present to win.  Sorry, no proxies.  All winners must show ID.

1.  Gift certificate from Holiday Inn Manchester, Brown Avenue location, for two nights stay valid until October 31st 2024
2.  EMTECH  ZM-2  Manual Antenna Tuning Unit - Z-Match -  Tunes 3.5MHz to 30MHz - 15 watts max. QRP. The ZM-2 may be the best antenna tuner you have ever used because of it's simplicity and ease of tuning.  The ZM-2 does not require an external SWR meter.  It has a visual built-in SWR indicator.  Rated at 15 watts maximum.  If you are into QRP you will love this tuner.  https://emtech-qrp.com/product/zm-2-bnc-connectors-prebuilt/
3.  Morserino CW Code practice device, choice of built or assembled.  This is a multi-functional device, (keyer, trainer, decoder, even a transceiver, etc).  It is ideal for learning and practicing Morse code, useful for everybody from beginner to high speed pro.  The kit is easy to build even for the first-time kit builder. Comes with capacitive touch paddles. http://www.morserino.info/
4.  SDR play RSP1A SDR receiver. The RSP1A covers the complete radio spectrum from 1kHz (VLF) to 2GHz (Microwaves) with up to a massive 10MHz visible bandwidth and the companion SDRuno software has all the popular ham bands and shortwave broadcast bands as presets for instant set-up.  https://www.sdrplay.com/rsp1a/ Courtesy of Ham Radio Outlet, Salem NH.
5.  ARRL  Antenna Book.  The bible. Value $50.00.  https://www.arrl.org/arrl-antenna-book
6.  ICOM IAB3-DUAL ACC Breakout Box for ICOM.  Supports connection to ICOM ACC1 DIN 13 or DIN 8, the IAB3DUAL makes for easy access to common signals like PTT, ALC, AF, Mod, etc... via 8 X simple 3.5mm jacks. Courtesy of VE2DX  Electronics Inc. https://ve2dx.com/iab-1
7.  ICOM Accessory IM1-HDMI , ICOM HDMI Interface with CT-17B-Nano Version 2 CI-V Hub with VE2DX TrueTTL/TrueCIV technology for better CI-V managment. it comes with needle displays and 2 bargraph displays, supports 23 different ICOM radios and 4 different communication possibilities (CI-V, Bluetooth, Wifi and USBoIP).  Courtesy of VE2DX  Electronics Inc. https://ve2dx.com/ve2dx-hdmi-meters

Pending prizes
X.  ARRL 2023 Radio Amateur Handbook chapters 1-27   https://handbook.arrl.org/ courtesy of ARRL.
X.  Anderson Power Pole kit and bag.  Includes a professional grade PowerPole Crimping Tool + 150 Assorted 15 / 30 / 45 Amp Powerpoles In A Custom Nylon Gear Bag.  https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-013964
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NEAR-Fest XXXV April 26 & 27 2024 / Lewiston Shootings
« Last post by W1RC on October 27, 2023, 05:40:54 AM »
NEAR-Fest is shocked and outraged at the horrific events of Wednesday October 25th, 2023, in Lewiston Maine, a town we have been visiting annually for many years to attend the Andy Hamfest/ Maine State Convention. We send our deepest condolences and sympathies to those who have lost friends and loved ones in the Lewiston-Auburn community as a result of this senseless shooting spree.  A quick check of the FCC database revealed that this individual, Robert R. Card II, of Bowdoin, now deceased, was not a licensed radio amateur.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/27/us/these-are-the-victims-of-the-maine-mass-shootings/index.html

Maine has now caught up with the rest of the country.
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