TWIAR News Feed

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Hytera Issues Statement on Motorola Solutions Litigation

Posted: 25 Mar 2017 01:02 PM PDT
http://bit.ly/2o4c6JC

We are disappointed that Motorola Solutions has chosen to bring lawsuits
against Hytera rather than compete in the marketplace. We are ready to
respond vigorously to Motorola Solutions’ allegations, and are fully
confident that Hytera will be vindicated in U.S. federal court.

Today’s radio communications markets are evolving, demanding new solutions,
and are best served by continuous innovation from all market participants.
Hytera devotes extensive investments and efforts to advancing its
technology offerings and solutions to meet the growing needs of radio
communications markets for products in TETRA, DMR, PDT and other radio
technologies.

Hytera is built on innovation. Hytera has been one of the leading
intellectual property owners in the industry over the last two decades.
Since filing its first patent application in 2000, Hytera has been awarded
418 patents worldwide covering numerous innovations and advancements,
including 238 patents relating to digital products. Hytera has been
proactively protecting its innovative technologies. Given Hytera’s own
global strategy of intellectual property protection, we have great respect
for the intellectual property rights of others.

By choosing the courtroom over the marketplace, Motorola Solutions is
running from legitimate competition and attempting to use its size and
market position to intimidate and prevent other radio communications
companies like Hytera from achieving the same level of success in the
United States that it currently has around the world.

On the other hand, as the fastest growing radio communications company in
the world, Hytera embraces competition. Competition results in increased
innovation and more choices for dealers and customers – and our customers
always come first. Hytera will continue to stand by these principles and
compete ethically and vigorously to bring cutting-edge products and
solutions to the market. Nothing will change our focus.

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via HACKADAY: Shut Up and Say Something: Amateur Radio Digital Modes

Posted: 25 Mar 2017 01:02 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2nLPSyW

In a recent article, I lamented my distaste for carrying on the classic
amateur radio conversation — calling CQ, having someone from far away or
around the block call back, exchange call signs and signal reports and
perhaps a few pleasantries. I think the idle chit-chat is a big turn-off to
a lot of folks who would otherwise be interested in the World’s Greatest
Hobbyâ„¢, but thankfully there are plenty of ways for the mic-shy to get on
the air. So as a public service I’d like to go over some of the many
digital modes amateur radio offers as a way to avoid talking while still
communicating.


Of Modes and Modulations
Hams speak in terms of modes and modulations when describing their radio
transmissions. The difference between the two terms is mostly not important
to our discussion, though, and in practice a lot of hams use the terms
interchangeably. But for completeness, modulation is a way of impressing
information on a radio wave, and a mode is a way of using a modulation to
communicate. Modulation schemes include amplitude modulation (AM),
frequency modulation (FM), and single sideband modulation (SSB). Modes
include continuous wave (CW), analog voice, digital voice, images, and data.

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AM Rally on April 1-3 Weekend an Opportunity to Try a Vintage Mode

Posted: 25 Mar 2017 01:02 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2nPKX06

If you’re not familiar with full-carrier amplitude modulation (AM) or have
never used it on the air, you’ll have a chance during the AM Rally during
the April 1-2 weekend, on the bands between 160 and 10 meters (except 30,
17, and 12 meters) plus 6 meters.

Once the primary voice mode on the ham bands, AM eventually gave way to
SSB, a form of AM. Yet AM has remained popular among dedicated radio
amateurs who consider it their primary operating mode. Many modern
transceivers include an AM button.

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via HACKADAY: See Satellites with a Simple Radio Telescope

Posted: 25 Mar 2017 01:02 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2mX883Q

Have you got a spare Dish Network antenna lying about? They’re not too hard
to come by, either curbside on bulk waste day or perhaps even on Freecycle.
If you can lay hands on one, you might want to try this fun radio telescope
build.

Now, don’t expect much from [Justin]’s minimalist build. After all, you’ll
be starting with a rather small dish and an LNB for the Ku band, so you
won’t be doing serious radio astronomy. In fact, the BOM doesn’t include a
fancy receiver – just a hacked satellite finder. The idea is to just get a
reading of the relative “brightness� of a radio source without trying to
demodulate the signal. To that end, the signal driving the piezo buzzer in
the sat finder is fed into an Arduino through a preamp. The Arduino also
controls stepper motors for the dish’s azimuth and elevation control, which
lets it sweep the sky and build up a map of signal intensity. The result is
a clear band of bright spots representing the geosynchronous satellites
visible from [Justin]’s location in Brazil.

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Amateur Radio Links Search for Amelia Earharts Plane with ISS Crew,
Classroom

Posted: 25 Mar 2017 01:02 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2oa3LUe

One of the enduring mysteries of the 20th Century was the disappearance in
1937 of famed aviator Amelia Earhart and her flight companion and navigator
Fred Noonan, while she was attempting to circle the globe. It appeared that
Earhart’s plane went down in the South Pacific, in the vicinity of Howland
Island; her last-known radio transmission came from there. On February 18,
a team from Nauticos — with stratospheric explorer Alan Eustace and
aviation pioneer Elgen Long, WF7T — departed Honolulu for the vicinity of
Howland Island, some 1,600 miles to the southwest, to complete the Eustace
Earhart Discovery deep sea search for Earhart’s lost Lockheed Electra.
Nauticos provides ocean technology services to government, science and
industry. The team now is conducting a sonar survey of about 1,800 square
miles of sea floor where it’s believed the aircraft may rest, and Amateur
Radio has provided a means to link the crew of the research vessel Mermaid
Vigilance with youngsters following the expedition, as well as with the
International Space Station (ISS) crew.