You do not only want to use your computer for plays?
Then I would like to tell you a few programs, with which you can use him also for the amateur radio.
In addition, I would like to point you to the calculations I have made.
AF spectrum display
The program freeware version 5.1.7 by Richard Horne display the AF spectrum.
It needs only a sound card.
I use it very gladly for measuring on IF/AF filter.
Only a source of noise to the receiver input, the AF output to the sound card and already I can see, how the filter operates.
Mr. Richard Horne, the creator of this program, gave me in November 2005 the permission to put the last freeware version 5.1.7 on my webpage.
Thank you Mr. Horne!
The program Spectrum Lab by Wolfgang Büscher, DL4YHF, display the AF spectrum as waterfall diagramm and/or "fidgety" line.
It needs only a sound card.
The features of this program are manifoldly, but with experiments you can handle it without reading the help file.
PCB design
With the program sPlan 8.0 by Abacom you can fast design schematic circuit diagrams on your Windows PC.
A extensive and easy to extensible component library will help you thereby.
Within minutes you will understand the handling of the program.
There is a demo version.
Although it does not allow printing and saving, all other functions can be used.
With the program Sprint-Layout 6.0 by Abacom you can easily and fast design single-sided and double-sided printed circuit boards on your Windows PC.
The handling of the program is learnable within minutes.
There is a demo version.
Although it does not allow printing and saving, all other functions can be used.
Map representations
The program Azimuth by Tony Field, VE6YP, display the world (or a window of it) in azimuth or classic projection.
A simple way, to print your own Beam maps for each point of the earth.
An alternative with more features is AZMap.
The program AZMap Paul Burton, AA6Z, display the world in azimuth projection.
A simple way, to print your own Beam maps for each point of the earth.
It's possible to display among other things also the aurora zones and the night side of the earth, like to see in the screenshot.
An alternative with less features is Azimuth.
Who want to use Beam maps without installing a program, who con use the Free Azimuthal Maps by Tom Epperly, NS6T.
After you put in your own location and the wanted size a PDF file will be created.
This file you can print.
Mini Ring Core Calculator Wilfried Burmeister, DL5SWB; Klaus Warsow, DG0KW
The freeware program Mini Ring Core Calculator in the now available version 1.3.3 makes it easy to calculate the inductance, the number of turns, the resistance, the necessary wire length and other technical features of coils.
Withal both different core types/sizes and the construction of air coiles are supported.
The operation of the program is alternatively possible in English, German, French and Italien.
The program is available here.
Propagation conditions
The NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Network with its beacons is a good aid to estimate the propagation conditions.
The project covers 18 beacons, which are developed in all parts of the earth.
The beacons send cyclically all 3 minutes.
The callsign is always send with 100 W.
Then four long dashes of 1 seconds follow, with which the output is lowered from 100 W first to 10 W then to 1 W and at the end to 0.1 W.
Than the next beacon follows.
If I switch on my station, I observe only once these beacons.
Because its transmit also with 10 and 1 W I can take a good judgement over the conditions and whether staying on the bands is meaningful or not.
The time, when which beacon sends, indicates my beacon schedule.
Thus I can assign still callsign signals, which I heard not completely.
The online-tool VOACAP (Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program) by NTIA/ITS is usuable for propagation predictions for shortwave connections in many versions.
All parts are qualified for the frequency area from 3 to 30 MHz.
The "MUF Map" is the prediction of the maximum usable frequency.
"REL Map" is the prediction of the QSO reliability from any point in the world on a freely selectable band with a predetermined antenna and power.
The "SDBW Map" is the prediction of the signal power level at the receiver.
In addition, there are various other predictions.
Give it a try!
The Kp index was developed to represent solar particle radiation from the last 3 hours by its magnetic effect.
The symbolic representation takes place in numbers from 0 (quiet) to 9 (extreme storm).
The Kp index is determined by a standardized procedure from the data of 13 worldwide observatories.
The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) provides the current Kp index of the last 3 days graphically prepared.
In addition, the data are avaible in the archive back up to 1932 - also graphically processed.
The Space Weather Prediction Center (SPWC) belongs to the National Oceanic and Athmospheric Administration (NOAA), among others.
It deals with the "space weather", for example the electrically charged particles that are continuously emitted by our sun at a speed of more than 300 km/s.
This particle stream is also known as the solar wind.
If this wind hits the Earth, it has different effects on magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere.
On the webpage of the Space Weather Prediction Center the strength of the solar wind is indicated and when a geomagnetic storm is to be expected.
In addition, a small video shows when it will come to Northern Lights (Aurora borealis).
The activity of the sun influences the propagation conditions on Earth.
Compact representations of measured and calculated Solar-Terrestrical Data provides Paul L. Herrmann, N0NBH, on his webpage.
He also provides explanations on certain values on the amateur radio bands.
The presented illustrations can be integrated into your own webpage, as it is done here.
Call sign lists
If you are looking for an address of an international ham radio station, so HamQTH by Petr Hlozek, OK2CQR, offers information, which are visible completely also without a registration.
The freely available call sign lists from each country are basis for the data.
Each ham radio operator determines, which information are presented.
It's possible to present only the name and the QTH, but also addresses for snailmail, the webpage or email and so on.
Who want to be deleted from the directory sends only an email to the owner.
If you look for the address of an international ham radio station, then QRZ.COM by Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ, offers a comprehensive database with information.
The information should be correctly, because they are entered there by each ham radio amateur themself and also hopefully kept up to date.
There is a disadvantage however: In order to be able to see all information, you must have registered yourself and logged in before.
But you can copy the address afterwards also from the webpage in order to paste it for example into the write program for labels.
If you look for the address of an international ham radio station, then also Hamcall by Buckmaster International offers a comprehensive data base with information.
The information should be correctly, because also they are entered there by each ham radio amateur themself and also hopefully kept up to date.
The address is immediately visible.
If you want do see the email address, you have registered yourself before and logged in.
The address is copyable only as picture of the webpage.
But each write program for labels permits also to insert pictures, so you do not have to type the address.
Internet
You want to design your own webpages?
There are an extensive and free documentation named SelfHTML about the design of webpages.
Stefan Münz of TeamOne created it from 1995.
The documentation is already online available as Version 8.0 and for offline use as Version 8.1.2.
It is/was also available as book.
Later, with the support of others users, it became the SelfHTML-Wiki.
Without that documentation my webpages would not look like it does now.
The best source of knowledge I know!
But the internet is evolving.
In the meantime, there is the HTML5 handbook created by Stefan Münz and Clemens Gull.
It is available as E-Book (PDF) by Franzis-Verlag (ISBN 978-3-645-20345-6).
The full contents of this book can also be viewed online here.
After creating webpages, you certainly want to publish them.
There are many suitable FTP programs that allow the project designed on your own computer to be transferred on a rented web space.
However, I have only found only a single program that automatically detects new or modified webpages and only uploads these pages.
All other programs must be told which files to upload.
The program I use is the ftp-uploader by Gregor Schommer Systemberatung.
In addition, the program can be operated in a time-controlled manner and can be used, for example, to upload periodic newly generated files.
If you're a privat use and only want to create a relatively small project with fewer than 500 items, you can use it as a freeware version for free.
Otherwise, it costs one time 19.95 €.
Then, however, an infinite number of folder/projects with as many files as they like are transferable.
Addendum: My provider, Telekom, switched all FTP access to SFTP from the beginning of April 2019.
As a result, the ftp-uploader could no longer access my web space.
But there is a guide to configure the additional program Bitvise Tunneliers.
After that, the ftp-uploader can be used by telecom users again.
Addendum 2: Since October 2020, Strato customers must first activate their FTP access - SFTP is used on a low standard.
But there is also a guide for this.
Spam is every bit of unwelcome and circulars in your post box.
Fortunately there are ways to decrease or eliminate the amount of spam you receive in your daily e-mail.
MailWasher Free by Mailwasher by Mailwasher is the free available version.
Although this version is no longer continued to develop, it is fully usable for the spam defense.
However the free version can supervise only one email account.
The follower MailWasher Pro from Firetrust develops constantly and possesses more possibilities than the free version.
It is 30 days free for use, but the money for registration is profitable.
In the meantime there are a lot of computer virus - and each day there are more.
That's why it is importent, to protect oneself effective against digital attacks.
An easy method for it is the AntiVir Personal Edition by Avira, which is free for personal use.
If you look for a web browser, which is safe and nevertheless fast, then regard once the free Firefox by the Mozilla Foundation.
It comes from the house Mozilla and is available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux computers.
The standard design can be extended by various add-ons.
In addition different language modules are offered.
Before the next thunderstorm draws up while handling your past e-mail program, you should test the free Thunderbird by the Mozilla Foundation.
It comes from the house Mozilla and is available for computers with the operating systems Windows, Macintosh and Linux.
It administers several accounts independently and makes the problem-free import of messages from the program used so far.
In addition it is available with different language modules.
Since August 2022 I use the free service form.taxi by Reinhard Söllradl - wrkt*biz for sending the data from my guestbook via e-mail to me.
These service can be used free of charge in case of low volumes.
As a result I must integrate no PHP or Perl on my webpage and the visitor can still send me a message.
You can configure the form according to your needs, because the formular remains on your own webpage.
Especially one who designed his webpages without any automats will also want to know after completed work, whether the provided HTML text is also error free.
Because if the rules set up by the W3 consortium are only kept, the pages are indicated in such a way by the different browsers, how it also intended the author.
Some browsers tolerate also small errors, but one should designed webpages without errors.
You can use for HTML files the Makeup Validator Service by W3 Consortium.
The procedure to check the contingently used CSS files is identically.
This time you use entirely the CSS Validation Service by W3 Consortium.
The checks functions as follows: Go to the respective Validator, enter the complete address (with https://) of the webpage and cklick "Check".
If all is correct, this indicated by a green symbol.
Otherwise the symbol is red, the number of the errors/warnings is displayed and the affected positions will be displayed.
In addition, the W3 Consortium provides the Link Checker by W3 Consortium, which allows you to check the link of a webpage.
Astronomy
With the Javascript Lunar Eclipse Explorer by Fred Espenak and Chris O'Byrne you can calculate the data for lunar eclipses for a selectable city.
Mit dem Javascript Solar Eclipse Explorer by Fred Espenak and Chris O'Byrne you can calculate the data for solar eclipses for a selectable city.
UTC and local time
Universal Time coordinated (UTC) is the global time which is valid since 1972.
The local time results in UTC according to the in your computer adjusted time zone and the daylight saving time.
A small javascript gives UTC and local time.
Picture: Wikipedia/Hellerick
KComm Julian Moss, G4ILO
KComm is a program specifically for the transceiver Elecraft K2, K3 and KX3.
It allows to transmit and receive CW, PSK31, PSK63, PSK125 and RTTY signals using a computer.
In addition a small logbook program is also integrated.
On his webpage provides not only the compiled program but also the source code.