We've been operating ham radio station K9OX once again after maybe a decade of inactivity. expand 
DX with Modest Equipment.
David Haworth. pdf 
FT8 Operating Guide. Gary Hinson. pdf
Years of ham radio software. page
# Starting
Joseph Taylor Jr. is an American astrophysicist and Nobel Prize laureate for his discovery with Russell Hulse of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that opened up possibilities for the study of gravitation. wikipedia
New digital modes appear in amateur radio with software downloads and a sound card connection to a suitable laptop computer. FT8 is the new thing logging at least 10x more contacts than any other, or perhaps all other modes combined. post
The WSJT-X application creates a variety of logs. Here we explore the log kept in ADIF format. Time in utc, loc in maidenhead, signal in db. wikipedia
We use a script to generate map markers based on including or excluding specific grid squares. Each map shows a larger area minus markers already shown.
The PSK Reporter web application accepts signal reports and maps them based on various queries. Here I retrieve my reports and look for strong signals from far away. site
# Practices
I turned on the radio early Saturday morning and noticed Japan was dominating the digital spectrum calling Haiti.
I watched all the Japanese operators pileup for HH2AA Haiti on Saturday morning. On Sunday morning I worked my first Japanese station, the first contact outside of North America.
We see a single station dominating our connection diagram and investigate his operating practice.
Our social network diagram brings another exceptional operator to our attention.
Contact rates as high as 500 per hour can be achieved using the exceptional spectral and temporal control offered by digital radio.
# Linking
WSJT-X will report decoding status and accept requests by UDP datagrams. Here we explore how to avail ourselves of that service.
We experiment by collecting FT8 mode payloads as decoded by WSJT-X software and reported to us via UDP.
We look at recent radio traffic and draw associations based on who has confirmed contacts. enlarge github
We'll watch reported and collected decodes over time. View multiple measures over multiple days in one Plot.ly graph. plot
We count events to quantify the activity reported from digital ham radio receivers. We find ourselves trading off statistical properties for temporal resolution.
# Science
Professor emeritus, astrophysicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate, and weak signal digital ham radio innovator.