Dynamic Range and 3rd Order Intercept Point

This is a graph showing the foundational elements used to establish a receiver's dynamic range.

Intermodulation Distortion and IP3

John Krupsky, WA5MLF; John Drum, W4BXI; and Carl Ferguson, W4UOA have prepared a Powerpoint presentation on Intermodulation Distortion and 3rd Order Intercept Points for the Tuscaloosa Amateur Radio Club. Click on the hyperlink to view or download the presentation.

Carl Sagan Remembered

Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer and astrochemist and a highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics, and other natural sciences. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

He is world-famous for writing popular science books and for co-writing and presenting the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which has been seen by more than 600 million people in over 60 countries, making it the most widely watched PBS program in history.^[1] A book to accompany the program was also published. He also wrote the novel Contact, the basis for the 1997 Robert Zemeckis film of the same name starring Jodie Foster. During his lifetime, Sagan published more than 600 scientific papers and popular articles and was author, co-author, or editor of more than 20 books. In his works, he frequently advocated skeptical inquiry, humanism, and the scientific method. (Wikipedia)

Please take a moment to enjoy one of his master works, "The Pale Blue Dot".

Carl Sagan's "Cosmic Calendar" was first shown on his PBS series "Comos" a most amazing program.
The theme song from "Comos" follows the "Cosmic Calendar".

Play the following clip to hear all of the theme song to "Comos".

Software Defined Radios

With the launch of FlexRadio, the amateur radio community is beginning to pay serious attention to the concept of software defined radios. Many of us, like myself, are VERY late-comers to this most fascinating topic.

With special thanks to WA5MLF for calling these to my attention, let me suggest for those of you interested in learning more, check out the four-part series by Gerald Youngblood, AC5OG. They were published in the Jul/Aug 2002 edition of QEX.

SDR Part 1 - SDR Part 2 - SDR Part 3 - SDR Part 4

WA5MLF has also pointed out a very good general discussion of software defined radio on Wikipedia.

Dual Monitor Display Close-up

This is a screen shot of the dual-monitors showing TRX-Manager and DXAtlas. Click on the picture for a hi-res image. TRX-Manager provides rig control for the FT-1000 Mark V; logbook; web cluster; rotor control; and quick access to memory channels. The left monitor can be shared with DXAtlas grayline, Chatroom, e-mail, etc.

Dual Monitors

I think I'm going to really like the new dual-monitors. They are at just the right height and provide a lot of space for a variety of applications. Cable management still leaves a little to be desired. That will come in time! Hi!

Click on the picture for a hi-res image.

Cleveland Deck Project

My son and I added a deck to the back of his house this past summer--July 2007.