Here is the Windows XP driver for Winbond USB WiFi dongle with PID/VID 0416:0035. This driver enables the device to be use under Ubuntu operating system with ndiswrapper.

You can download the driver here – Winbond USB WiFI IS89C35 Winxp Driver

I included this driver on my blog post because there are many websites out there offering bogus drivers for this device, which are very annoying when you need the to use the device in a hurry.

Tags: computer, drivers, hardware, windows

MCMC (Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Comittee) has updated Malaysian Amateur Radio Apparatus Assignment and Callsign database, which can be viewed here – http://www.skmm.gov.my. The updated database include details of newly registered hams who’ve recently passed RAE 2008-1 examination in April.

Alternatively you could try the experimental AJAX web interface from ashamradio callsign project. Thanks to 9M2CIO for making the database available to use freely.

Tags: amateur radio, ashamradio, callsign, hamradio, mcmc

The Malaysian Amateur Radio Examination result is out, congratulation to those who passed the examination. You can view the result directly from MCMC (SKMM) website or download it from the local mirror.

Download :
RAE 2008-1 result (local mirror)

Tags: amateur radio, communication, malaysia, radio, rae, result

Since 10 meter activities gained popularity lately in Malaysia, I decided to publish 10 meter calling frequency for the benefits of local hams in my region :

28.480 MHz USB
28.485 MHz USB
28.490 MHz USB
28.495 MHz USB
28.500 MHZ USB

Most local and DX activities concentrated on these frequencies with 28.490 MHz being the most popular for calling DX stations.

Tips for newbies hams on HF
Be sure to ask if the intended frequency is unoccupied by asking (“is this frequency in use ?”) at least three times. Then proceed to make a general call, “CQ CQ CQ this is 9W2QSO 9W2QSO 9W2QSO calling CQ CQ CQ, this is 9W2QSO calling any station and standing by” and listen for any call for few moments.

In Malaysia, the best time for 10 meter USB operation is around 4:20pm – 10pm, your milleage may vary though.

Good luck.

Tags: 10 meter, amateur radio, ham, hamradio, hf, tips

Here’s another 11 meter Moxon Antenna plan suitable for 27MHz CB, Freeband and lower 28MHz Amateur Radio operation band.

Dimensions
A- 392.09 cm (154 3/8 inch)
B- 58.62 cm (23 1/16 inch)
C- 11.25 cm (4 7/16 inch)
D- 73.4 cm (28 7/8 inch)
E- 143.27 cm (56 7/16)

Gain, Radiation Pattern (mounted at approx 30feet)

Gain : Approx 10-11dBi (30 feet above the ground)
Freq range : 27.300 MHz – 28.300 MHz

>

The main advantage of Moxon rectangle antenna are :

• Compact and Small
• Has considerable gain
• It can eliminate noise on HF band
• Easy to construct
• Suitable for HF operation (mid-low radiation angle)

Refer here for 10 meter Moxon Antenna Plan for Amateur Radio operation (28.2MHz-28.8MHz) : 10 Meter Band Compact directional antenna, Moxon

Tags: 10 meter, amateur, amateur radio, antenna, diy, hf, hobby, homebrew, moxon, moxon antenna

I was searching for some information when I encountered these warning from Google. Apparently our SIRIM website security has been compromised and was spreading malwares to viewers around the world. Upon closer inspection, SIRIM seems to have taken down its website as of May 30,2008.

Probably SIRIM should perform a thorough checking on its website before publishing it to the internet, there must be a “Standard” for website security I assume?

Tags: Internet, malaysia, security, sirim, standard, standards, website

Eager to practice your CW skills but you have nobody to practice with? In some countries like Malaysia, CW knowledge and proficiency is still required to operated HF portion (except 10 meter) of the Amateur Radio band.

Having said that, I’d like to present CWirc, an XChat irc client plugin which enables you to send and receive morse code through IRC. Developed by a fellow ham F8EJF, CWIrc has a lot of features which really enhance your CW experience on the internet, including the option of hooking up a real CW keyer using serial port interface.

CWIrc enables you to exchange morse code with fellow irc users on the internet, provided that the other users also knows morse code and has installed CWIrc. Though this might sound a little bit of a stretch when thinking the odds of meeting people with both requirements, it is actually not so in reality. You can find those kind of people exactly in #cwirc on irc.freenode.net server who are eager to chat with you in CW.

Screenshot

Requirements

• Linux (or Unix based) machines (I personally used Ubuntu)
• XChat IRC Client
• CWIRc plugin

Both XChat and CWIrc are included in Ubuntu (as well as Debian) software repository, so you don’t need to compile or download separate package from their respective websites.

Tags: amateur radio, Computers, cwirc, hamradio, irc, linux, morse, plugin, qso, ubuntu

.

For starters… It does not actually sounds like that, I had to lower the voltage because the speaker output is too loud and you can hear that i’m not a good at sending morse too.

Still in progress, I’m still looking to modify it abit and put it in a nice box and attach it with a decent key.

Tags: amateur radio, cw, diy, hamradio, homebrew, morse, morse code

Even in 2008 in the era of blogs and webservices, there are people who are still stuck in the 1990s.

Embedding music player and playlist of your favorite song is okay, as long as you don’t auto play it when somebody surf your blog. Worse of all, when you don’t include a button to make the music stop.

Please, we visit your site to read blog posts, not to listen to your favorite music. If we want to listen to your music, we would already have it on our computer.

Its annoying to be forced to listen to the music that you don’t want to hear, much less it interferes with our own music player. I wouldn’t be surprised if people would rather choose to depart early from your website without even finishing your post for that reason.

Tags: blog, blogosphere, blogs, midi, mp3, Music, Rants, stupidity

Here is a guide to modify your PC power supply unit to power up your mobile rig. If its done correctly you can have a cheap (regulated) VDC power supply solution for your mobile rig to operate at home.

Step I

First get a ATX PC power supply from the nearest computer store. Price is around RM30-70.

Make sure it could supply sufficient current. Look at the label. We need at least 10-17amp at 12V for a sufficient operation of mobile rig. Lower Ampere rating means that your mobile rig cant transmit with a typical HiGH setting (50w).

Step 2

Look for ATX power connector. It should look like this.

Look for black and green wire at the ATX connector. The wire position is 4th from the top left side of the connector and 4th from the bottom right side from the connector as pictured above.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: amateur radio, diy, Ham Radio, hamradio, Hobbies, hobby