r/HamRadioBeginner

▲ 220 r/HamRadioBeginner+1 crossposts

Watching 10m Propagation Move Across the Planet Over 24 Hours

I’ve always wanted a way to actually watch HF propagation evolve over time instead of only looking at static maps or spot lists.

So I ended up building a “Replay” view into DXLook that animates the last 24 hours of HF activity on a world map using 15-minute intervals.

It synchronizes the propagation data with the day/night terminator, which makes some patterns extremely obvious. On 10m especially, you can literally watch the band follow the sunlight around the planet: openings expand after sunrise, shift geographically during the day, then collapse again after sunset.

The replay is built from aggregated data from PSKReporter, Reverse Beacon Network, WSPRnet , and DX Clusters.

The clip is a full 24-hour replay on the 10 meters band.

I thought some people here might find it interesting from a propagation-analysis perspective.

73,

Rodrigo
AK6FP / LU6ERV

u/LiveSpread2190 — 3 days ago
▲ 1 r/HamRadioBeginner+1 crossposts

“I built a modern HAM radio desktop dashboard — looking for feedback

I’ve been building a desktop HAM radio dashboard called HamOrbit.

It’s a Windows app focused on amateur radio operators, with tools like:

• Logbook + ADIF support
• Satellite tracking
• Propagation tools
• DX cluster
• QSL card generator
• RF calculators
• Analytics + world activity maps
• DMR / BrandMeister tools
• Contest calendar
• ES/EN support

The project is built in Python + CustomTkinter and I’ve been working on making it feel more modern than most HAM software.

Website:
https://hamorbit.com

I’d genuinely love feedback from other operators:
What features would you add or improve in modern HAM radio software?

73 and good DX! 📡

reddit.com
u/Official_Ham_Orbit — 5 days ago
🔥 Hot ▲ 16.6k r/HamRadioBeginner+4 crossposts

[Request] How much earth is actually required to safely earth a cable?

Say a typical domestic electrical supply into earth with pretty average parameters (conductivity etc).

Let's say earthed into a perfectly insulated container of X mass soil - what is X?

u/Responsible_Topic_81 — 10 days ago

Tidradio TD-H9 nightmare

tldr; can anyone recommend a radio anywhere from $75-$150 that will give me a bump in power relative to the UV-5R, 10W would be my sweet spot. I have both my gmrs and ham licenses. I'd love a UHF/VHF/GMRS (yes, I know all three will cause a fight online) but would be happy with just ham bands.

Apparently I didn't do enough research before asking for this radio as a gift. I mainly wanted a bit of bump in power and updating and programming the radio is a nightmare.

odmaster web can't properly identify the radio and even if I start a new band plan after choosing any of the TD-H9 options (of which there are at least 6) the software complains that I haven't chosen the right radio. Every time I download from the radio it shows "TD-H8 3rd Gen Ham" as the model # and when I attempt to upload even simply what I downloaded, it complains that I haven't chosen the right radio.

If I choose "TD-H8 3rd Gen Ham" and try to download from the radio it says I've chosen the wrong radio.

Their apps (web, windows and android) are incomplete and the usability is terrible. Copy and paste don't work across rows.

Trying to get the latest firmware or software is an exercise in frustration as I have to give my email address and after more than 24 hours still haven't received any links from tidradio to two different destination emails. yes, I've checked my spam boxes.

reddit.com
u/michaelh98 — 7 days ago
▲ 20 r/HamRadioBeginner+4 crossposts

VUURWERK firmware v1.2.7 is out, UV-K5 V1 only

Dropping an update if anyone's running VUURWERK or has been curious. Custom firmware I've been working on for my UV-K5. Big jump since the last public release (v1.2.4).

The spectrum analyzer got reworked: SIDE1 and SIDE2 step frequency up and down now, MENU is blacklist, STAR cycles modes with a label that flashes so you can actually see which mode you're in.

CTCSS scanner works. Pre-checks if there's a signal on the frequency before scanning, so dead air gives you a quick "NO SIGNAL" instead of a 30-second timeout. Locks onto tones in a few seconds now.

Battery indicator updates live during TX instead of freezing the moment you key up. There's a TX sag tracker on the About screen if you want to see how your pack is holding up over time. Flashlight auto-off after 30 minutes (10 on a low pack) so a pocket bump doesn't drain your radio overnight.

TX audio is cleaner, the 1 kHz whine from the backlight PWM is gone. Credit on the approach to kamilsss655 / NUNU who first bench-validated that fix.

Plus a bunch of small polish: boot self-check, backlight fade, scan rate readout, key gesture toasts, audible cues in voice-seek mode.

All in all my experience has been its much snapier and responsive than V 1.2.4 would like to hear your findings.

Repo: https://github.com/Tokeloshe/vuurwerk-firmware/releases/tag/v1.2.7

73, KC3TFZ

u/Popular-Ad5171 — 8 days ago
▲ 0 r/HamRadioBeginner+2 crossposts

Looking for ham radio testers for a Morse code iOS app

I’m looking for a few ham radio / CW folks willing to test an early beta of my iOS / iPadOS app, Morse Code Visual Trainer.

It teaches Morse visually with a binary tree, guided dot/dash practice, listening drills, a single-button key mode, and several training exercises.

I’m especially looking for honest feedback from people who know CW: what feels right, what feels wrong, what’s missing, and what would make it more useful.

Beginners are welcome too. You do not need to already know Morse code to help test it.

I’ve attached a few screenshots. If you’re interested in TestFlight access, email me at mcvt@forwardtechnologies.com

https://preview.redd.it/9pcuopcsyj0h1.png?width=454&format=png&auto=webp&s=70324190f6896f5304f864b9bcc7273766eed13b

https://preview.redd.it/kvpk7pcsyj0h1.png?width=454&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ac79316045f5339e24691f00d8351e3a28add07

https://preview.redd.it/9i41kpcsyj0h1.png?width=454&format=png&auto=webp&s=7afe0c05f9d85124797b3285e67a932c3e34efff

reddit.com
u/Edzila — 10 days ago
▲ 12 r/HamRadioBeginner+1 crossposts

I recently passed my General Exam and invested in a second hand G90. I bought one of the Ali Express 17 foot whips for 20 meters and so far it has performed pretty well. I’ve heard operators from the US and Mexico here near Little Rock. Reception is clear for the most part. The issue I’m having is when I transmit my call sign and CQ I’m met with silence. The radio face display shows all indications of my transmission going out. Do I assume the whip is the issue? I’m going to put up a half wave dipole soon to see if that helps. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

reddit.com
u/Ok-Confection5504 — 14 days ago