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Updates

May 4, 2026

"May the fourth be with you!" Added link to the new & amazing UberSDR. If you hate Linux, as I (still do, but...) this Linux-based SDR platform (standalone or cyberspace shared) is something for you to check out! It's not your usual browser-based SDR because you do some serious radio science with it. If you can never get enough TMI then UberSDR is for you!

Also added a link to Amateur Radio Daily. Keep abreast of the lasted worldwide happenings & news in the Amateur Radio world. Can never get enough radio news TMI, either!

April 20, 2026

When MFJ Enterprises, Inc. shutdown operations with the retirement of owner/operator Martin F. Jue, it sent shock waves throughout the Amateur Radio world. But some good news! ITU Corporation has aquired the famous Cushcraft & Hy-gain antennas & rotators product lines. The deal includes all the designs, tooling, specialized equipment & marketing rights. ITU has purchased the old former National Guard armory building in Linton, Indiana & will relocate manufacturing from Starksville, Mississippi to Linton. Via Amateur Radio Daily.

Apr 15, 2026

Am now using an RX-888 MKII SDR to extend my WWV propagation page to include 15 MHz. See Radio Magic. The beta version of SDRConsole added more control of the RX-888's internal features.

I also bought Turn Island Systems

GPSDO clock kit, which includes a much larger, internal thermal pad & copper foil-to-case contact. But even with the larger internal cooling pad, the RX-888 still runs hot & it runs really hot with the small, stock & totally inadequate thermal pad so I have my two RX-888s itting on a ventilated aluminum stand with a large, but fairly quiet, USB powered (150 mm dia.) cooling fan.

Apr 6, 2026

I have my WWV 5 & 10 MHz propagation page operating on a test basis. See www.va3rom.com/WWV/WWV.html. It uses SDRConsole, an RSPduo SDR, Leo Bodnar GPSDO, W6LVP active loop antenna, two virtual audio cables (VACs) feeding two instances of fldigi & two custom Python 3 scripts to process the data, create the graphs & ftp them every 15 minutes. It's my fork of HamSCI's Linux Grape 1 DCR Python 2 script, which I enhanced & added real-time processing & streaming.

I'm a classically trained Fortan, Pascal & C programmer & had no experience with Python, so MS Copilot AI was used to translate my pseudo-code into Python 3 scripts. Learning how to use Matplotlib (it's a beast) was the only major roadblock that, at times, stumped Copilot! But I've learned a new programming language in the process, thanks to AI.

Python is a bloated & slow interpreted language, but it's great for quick 'n dirty science programming projects. Pycharm (it's free) was the IDE used & is highly recommended for developing large (1000+ line) Python projects. It also has an embedded AI (Jetbrains).

Apr 3, 2026

Reedited & posted my previous TCA articles "The Road to Radio—Part 5" (RM070) & "The Road to Radio—Part 6" (RM071) for your reading pleasure.

See Radio Magic.

Mar 16, 2026

Added support material for my next TCA (Mar-Apr 2026) column "The Road to Radio—Part 8" (RM073).

See Radio Magic.

Jan 07, 2026

Happy New Year! Added support material for my next TCA (Jan-Feb 2026) column "The Road to Radio—Part 7" (RM072).

See Radio Magic.

Nov 22, 2025

Reedited & posted my previous TCA article "The Road to Radio—Part 4" (RM069) for your reading pleasure.

See Radio Magic.

Oct 20, 2025

Added support material for my next TCA (Nov-Dec 2025)column "The Road to Radio—Part 6" (RM071).

See Radio Magic.

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