SomeNetBlog

QSOnet.com

Posted: November 4, 2006 10:45 am by wb5rmg
Filed under: amateur radio, internet

QSOnet.com is one of the latest Voice over IP tools to come out, specifically designed for amateur radio use. You don’t have to have a ham radio to use this service, but you do need to have a current license, and know the basics of HF radio communications. Staying at a Holiday Inn won’t help. But if you register for the 90 day free trial, you get to download this really cool radio, the CQ100.

Did I say this was cool ? . . . This is really cool !

I’ll agree with critics that may say ‘But it’s not really a radio..‘ - but it looks like a radio, acts like a radio, and sounds like a radio. In some ways it is better than a radio. If you have a ham license you owe it to yourself to try this. Think of the CQ100 as a virtual radio, but instead of talking to simulated people, you get to have conversations with other licensed operators - from all over the world. I know, we already have EchoLink, IRLP and such programs, that can and do link up with real radios - but this one even looks like a radio. No fancy computer interfaces, no special codes to remember, the CQ100 even has knobs that turn …

Read through the qsonet.com forums yourself, and you will likely agree that Doug (VE3EFC) has put a lot of thought into this service. His apparent goal is to create a virtual ionosphere with lots of interference-free channels, and a nice simple-to-use interface that most radio operators are already familiar with the the controls. I’d say that he has succeeded in that, and more. Those that are not familiar with a typical HF transceiver, are learning the ins-and-outs of changing bands, moving off the calling frequency, and gaining a wealth of experience in common operating courtesy. A new licensee could not ask for a better training tool. Wow, and it sounds great as well.

I have only been listening for a few days now, but this apparently got started back in the summer of 2006. In my first day of operating I made contacts and had at least brief conversations with operators in Texas, Virginia, Florida, Hawaii, Japan, Australia, Norway, Germany … at least 20-some contacts. I had a wonderful 30 minute chat with Kjell-Olaf (LA6TOA) in Norway, and even got to see pictures on his website of this week’s snowfall up there north of the Arctic Circle.. No fading, no static, no QRM, none of the bad stuff ! The rig didn’t even get warm. I have already received 4 or 5 eQSL cards from around the globe ! And here we are at the bottom end of sunspot cycle 23.

I was first licensed in the late 70s and enjoyed exciting worldwide QSOs during the peak of that solar cycle. As the propogation waned, it became harder and harder to work DX stations, especially with only 100 watts and a dipole. The “low bands“, as we called them, seemed to only offer foul-mouthed, frequency-squatting curmudgeons running a kilowatt - so I basically gave up on HF within a few years. Field Day was about the only time I would ever operate HF. Fortunately my interest in VHF/UHF carried me on into satellite operations, and by the mid to late 80s I was working my share of DX via Oscar-13.

So here we are again, low end of solar activity cycle, with no major satellites to work with… I am still fiddlin with packet radio (APRS & WinLink2000), but it is difficult to get motivated enough to re-plant the HF vertical after moving this last summer. In fact I don’t have any outside antennae just yet. The D-Star digital mode is exciting, but I don’t have the funding yet to start doing more than helping out some. So I finds out about this QSOnet …

I could go on all day about this, especially as it is so new and useful to me. I have done a lot of listening, just to see what folks are talking about, and the overall response is great. Rather than try to make a well coordinated statement that summarizes the impressions I have, I’ll just make a raw list of thoughts.

• easy to sign-up, install, and operate
  • 90 day free trial, then about 60 cents /week
  • multiple callsigns, multiple computers
  • no router adjustments/configuration
• use it anywhere
  • laptop in the coffee shop
  • I use it at work during lunch
  • anyone’s computer (don’t save your password)
• excellent resource for
  • hands-on for new operators
  • those with antenna restrictions
  • those with budget restrictions
  • those with space restrictions
  • (those of us whose vacuum tubes don’t work as well as they used to)
  • (those of us who : )
    • never had a kilowatt
    • never had a 100 ft tower
    • never had a $2K contest machine
  • those who enjoy basic conversation…
• pleasant operators, helpful and friendly
  • DOES require active FCC license verification
  • abusers can be easily blocked . . .
  • always someone to talk to (listen on 14.200)
• I hear new licensees, braggin about working CW 1st time !
• I hear old-timers, braggin about working CW 1st time !
• provides motivation to build (or re-build) a RF station
• Good Job Doug ! Well Done, Whatta Vision. Thanks !!

As usual, I could go on for hours - but I’m looking forward to some more time on my new radio, so I’m QRT on the blog for now, and QSY to the QSOnet. Post your comments here, both pro and con. You can tell how I feel about it. How about you ?
73 for now /;^)