SDR's...So Kewl...

Software Defined Receivers.  Man, I wish I had known about this stuff before.  The screenshot to the left is from what I've been scanning on WB4MAK's SDR website.  If you check out the www.websdr.org/ website, it lists all the current SDR websites.

Here's what I've found useful about SDRs so far...

Only 80m Alive Right Now?

For the last couple of days I've noticed that the only band I'm hearing signals is coming from 80m.  During the day I could hear some 40m and a bit of 20m; however during the evening and into the wee hours, it seems like 80m is the only action I'm seeing activity.  For the last couple of days, we've been getting a lot rain and thunderstorms in the Atlanta area.  I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

Getting the Equipment...

So what do I have???  So far it's a Yaesu 817nd with an LDG z-817 autotuner powered by a JetStream 25 amp power supply.  I have a MFJ 941e from when I had the 857d.   Why do I still have it?  I have a feeling that sometime in the near future, I'll want another 100 watt rig, and this 941e is not bad.  There's a local hamfest on November 6th, so maybe I get lucky and find a nice 100 watt rig.

So why did I go with the 817nd? 

Learning CW....

Dang, it's hard.  I've been trying to learn Morse Code, since the day after I got my Technician back in 2004.  I think one of the reasons I got burnt out from trying to get my General back then was the learning of CW.  Back then, the 5 wpm exam was required along with the Element 3 multiple choice exam.  I was trying to do both at the same time and failed miserably.