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Morse code training on a Mac

I get questions and have been researching ways to run Morse code training apps on a Mac. Wine is a good solution for many of these small, relatively low-resource apps. But, MacOS 10.15 – Catalina – has squashed that ability for now.

So I have been working with CrossOver to run these apps on a Mac. I will try to link or include a couple of documents to explain that.

The Digital Voice Tower of Babel

EchoLink, DMR, D-STAR, System Fusion, IRLP, etc.  People think HF operating is confusing.  I’m so confused by these digital voice modes that I’m paralyzed.  I started down this journey because a ham I know in California wants me to get hooked up with one or more of these modes.  I don’t even know where to start.

I have a VHF/UHF mobile radio that I use as a base station.  It says that it can do EchoLink.  I read a little bit on that but do not understand why I need to connect the radio to a computer to use that feature.  Besides that, I’m Apple Mac-based and the software is Windows-only.  Apparently there is a Mac application that is a limited subset of the Windows program.  I think there is an EchoLink repeater near me, so why do I need to be connected to a computer to use that?  Anyway, what would I do with it?

From what I have gathered, DMR is king.  DMR is a commercial venture but no matter, there are lots of cheap radios that can use it.  Problem seems to be that some of these radios are not easy to program leading some clubs to hold “code plug” parties periodically to program these radios for their members.  If I were to go on a business trip to Atlanta, does that mean that I need to look up a club in the Atlanta area that will program my radio for their area?

D-STAR seemed to be popular for a while but perhaps not any more because of DMR.  It was created specifically for amateur radio so, I guess, “code plug” parties are not necessary.  Kenwood has now joined Icom in making D-STAR compatible radios but, at least for Kenwood, they are a bit pricey.

Fusion is proprietary to Yaesu so any radio that will do Fusion will come from Yaesu.  Fusion seems to enjoy some popularity because Yaesu sold (or is selling) dual-mode repeaters at low cost to clubs and individuals.  I do not care about the mechanics of setting up repeaters but I guess a lot of Yaesu repeaters are out there.

One can get dongles and hot-spots that connect to a computer or a home network and can connect to these modes somehow.  They can function as low-power repeaters and allow a hand-held radio to use them instead of a larger, more public repeater, if I understand this correctly.  Or, it might be possible to use a headset with a boom microphone to get into the mode’s network straight through the computer and no radio is even needed.  It seems that these can be put in a vehicle and use a cellular hot-spot to connect to the “network” so one would then have a low-power repeater on wheels.

Let’s say that I set up a hot-spot, which would allow me to access many of these modes.  From what I can tell, registered IDs are required for these modes.  So if I get a D-STAR ID, do I need IDs for DMR and Fusion if I wanted to use a hot-spot to connect to those nodes?

Another example (hypothetical): a ham in Canada says he has set up a group to discuss analyzing radio signals from Jupiter.  He calls it the Jupiter group or whatever the proper term is.  How would I connect to that?  What would I need to know from him to join the fun?

If I have a Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu or whatever radio and a how-spot — which is what my friend in California is encouraging me to do — when I turn everything on, what will I hear?  How would I “tune”?  Are people in Washington state in some kind of general group looking for people in the east to discuss something?  Is there more activity on these modes than analog repeaters?  How would I find that activity?  Why have repeaters at all if everything is through a computer or how-spot?  Why not use Zoom or Skype or FaceTime or something like those?

I think I’ll stick to HF operating.  I understand that as long as it is CW operating.

73, Joe, AA8TA dit dit

Hello world!

Hi:

I am Joe Fischer, an amateur radio operator.  My call sign is AA8TA.  Some people think that is a weird call sign especially when one tries to say the letters out loud.  But, I did not get that call sign to say out loud but to say with my fingers.  I am a CW operator and I thought that this would be a nice call sign for CW stuff.  Anyway, this blog is set up to chronicle various thoughts and activities that I do.