K9SWX

Gaia GPS and ham radio

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I use the Gaia GPS app on my iPhone for finding and recording various hiking trails around me. I discovered you could import GPX, KML and other files into Gaia GPS. I thought it would be cool if I could add some ham radio items right into Gaia GPS. After some research, I was able to import GPX files from Repeater Book, POTA and SOTA websites.

Repeater Book

  • Go to the RepeaterBook.com website
  • Log in if you haven’t already and click on North American Repeaters.
  • Click on the state you are interested in. I chose Illinois since that is where I am.
  • Choose whichever criteria you want. I chose All for simplicity.
  • You should see a list of repeaters. Click on Export at the top and choose GPX.
  • Click OK on the warning screen.
  • It will ask you to choose what two labels you want. I picked the Callsign for #1 and Location (City) for #2.
  • Check the box that says “I agree to use this data for personal use only.” and then click Download.
  • In your downloads folder, you should now have a GPX file called repeaterbook_repeaters_datetime.

Parks on the Air (POTA)

  • Go to the POTA website and make sure you are logged in.
  • Click on the menu in the top left and choose Park List.
  • Scroll down to the United States and click the triangle on the left side to expand the list.
  • You should see a second listing for United States that shows all the individual states.
  • Click on the state you want.
  • With the list of parks listed, click on the Download link and choose GPX.
  • In your downloads folder, you should now have a GPX file called State(US-State). Mine says Illinois (US-IL).GPX

Summits on the Air (SOTA)

  • Go to the SOTA Maps website and make sure you are logged in.
  • Under Association at the top, choose the area you want to import. I chose W9 – USA since that is where I am located.
  • Under Region at the top, pick the one you are interested in. If you want all of the regions in that group, check the Multi box above the dropdown box. I picked W9/IL, W9/IN, W9/WI.
  • At the bottom of the list of summits, click the export button.
  • As before, choose the association and regions you want.
  • In the output format dropdown, choose GPX file and then click Create File.
  • In your downloads folder, you should now have a ZIP file called SMP_Date_Time.zip. You’ll need to extract the GPX file from the ZIP file before importing it to Gaia GPS.

Importing to Gaia GPS

Now that we have GPX files from each site, we can import them to Gaia GPS.

  • Go to the Gaia GPS website and make sure you are logged in.
  • On the menu on the left side of the screen, click on Import Data.
  • Click on select files and select the GPX file we downloaded from Repeater Book.
  • Check the Waypoints box and click on Import.
  • You should now see a list of repeaters that were in the GPX file. Click the Save Items button at the bottom. This will take a few moments depending on how many repeaters you exported.
  • When it’s done, you should see a list of your repeaters on the map.
  • Repeat these steps to import the GPX files from POTA and SOTA

Changing the icons

I like to change the icons to make them represent each group whether it’s a tower for a repeater or a tree for a park.

  • Click the Saved Items on the left menu.
  • Click on one of the imported files.
  • Click on Items.
  • Click the circle to the right of the first item. Then click the circle above it to select all the items.
  • Click the 3 dots next to the circle and select Set Icon.
  • For the repeaters, I used the tower icon. Type in tower and click the icon and click Save.
  • Depending on how many repeaters or other items you imported, it could take a while to change all the icons. When I did it, I had to repeat this process numerous times until all the icons changed to the new icons.

Now if you go to your phone and login to the Gaia GPS app, you should see the the imported items on your map. Pretty cool isn’t it? You can shut layers off and on as needed so they don’t clutter your phone or slow it down.

Let me know if you have any questions about this process or if you have other suggestions on what to import into Gaia GPS.

You can download Gaia GPS for iPhone or Android below.

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaia-gps/id1201979492
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trailbehind.android.gaiagps.pro&hl=en

I also made a video on how to import data from Repeater Book, POTA and SOTA into Gaia GPS.

Where to buy used ham radio gear

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Local

Online

Dealers

I also made a video about this topic which you can watch below.

2023 ARRL Repeater Directory Review

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Back in the day, I couldn’t wait for the ARRL Repeater Directory to come out and see all the changes and new repeaters in the area. With the popularity of the internet, I haven’t felt the need to buy the directory in a long time. At the beginning of 2023, I thought I would take a chance and buy the latest edition and see what it was like.

The first major change is that it’s a lot bigger than it used to be. It’s nicely put together in a spiral format which makes searching through the book very easy. It’s very similar to the ARRL license exam study guides.

The next thing I noticed is that since 2017, the ARRL doesn’t manage the list of repeaters. That is now done by a company called RFinder who also has a paid web-based repeater directory service.

When I thumbed through the first few pages, I noticed a grammatical error of three words bunched into one word with no spaces. Weird.

Anyway, I went to the Illinois section and looked up Champaign. Odd, the 146.760 repeater was not listed. This is a popular repeater that has been around for decades. I then looked through the entire state of Illinois thinking maybe they put it in the wrong city. Not only did I not find that repeater, but there were no 146.760 repeaters listed for the entire state.

I knew of at least three repeaters off the top of my head on that frequency that should have been listed but were not. I went to the Illinois Repeater Association website and they listed four repeaters on 146.760. The same four repeaters were also listed on the free RepeaterBook.com website. Not a good sign for the book.

I also noticed that most D-STAR repeaters were listed twice for no reason. They could have saved a lot of space in the book by only listing them once.

Another thing that frustrated me is that they listed the NOAA weather radio frequencies but decided to put them all under N instead of with their appropriate cities. One extra step to go through.

Finally, to prove this book doesn’t have much quality control, I stumbled across an entry in New Jersey called “TEST Anywhere, NJ”. Really!? Maybe someone sent the rough draft of the book to the printer instead of the edited version but really not a good look.

Sadly, I can’t recommend this book. If you are looking for quality repeater information, I recommend either RepeaterBook.com (which is free!) or find your local repeater association / council which usually has all the latest information. If you already have the book, you can go to page 16 to see a list of all the repeater associations in the US.

Here is my video review of the 2023 ARRL Repeater Directory.

Sangean HDR-14 HD/FM/AM radio review

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I had originally purchased this radio back in May 2020 from Amazon as a renewed item to save a few bucks. Unfortunately, something was wrong with it as it struggled to pick up even the 50,000 watt power house FM station one mile away from me. After talking with folks who had the radio and loved it, I thought I would give it another chance. In October 2020, I purchased the radio brand new. When I received it, I was blown away at all the stations it was picking up. Now that I’ve had it a few years, I thought I would do a review of the radio.

Likes

Portability

One of the biggest features of this radio is how small it is. It fits in your hand and you can take it anywhere.

HD Radio

Why do you need HD radio capabilities? Despite slightly increased music quality, I think the real benefit of HD is having multiple stations on the same frequency. Two of our stations here in Champaign, IL have three separate HD channels on the same frequency.

WILL has two of their HD channels for classical music. The third is crystal clear audio of their AM station which sounds a lot better than what you would hear on an AM radio.

Then you have WIXY which also has three HD channels. HD1 is country, HD2 is hip hop and HD3 is top 40. That seems pretty cool from a technical perspective of only needing one transmitter for three different genres of music. However, many of these stations are also on FM, albeit on different frequencies than their main transmitter. Their HD1 channel is on 100.3, HD2 on 92.1 and HD3 on 99.7. This allows folks without an HD radio to enjoy those stations with a regular FM radio. Of course this requires the station to have three different transmitters which reduces the cool factor and increases their costs.

If you are curious what HD stations are in your area, you can visit the address below.

https://hdradio.com/stations/

Getting back to the radio… The HD reception on the radio works very well. It seems to detect and lock on to an HD signal in a few seconds which is nice. Audibly, you really don’t hear any difference with an HD signal on the built-in speaker other than no static. If you plug in headphones, you can sometimes hear a slight improvement in signal.

Radio Data System (RDS)

On the FM side, one of the wonderful features is RDS. This is the system that shows you the artist, song title, station call letters and more. Most car stereos have this built-in but most portable radios do not. This radio does a good job of detecting and then decoding the RDS portion of the signal to display the information on the screen. I also enjoy using this feature to DX or listen for distant stations outside your normal listening area. When certain atmospheric conditions are right, you can hear stations from hundreds of miles away. I’ve picked up FM stations in Wyoming (I’m in Illinois) before just using this radio and the built-in antenna. Being able to see the call letters on the screen is a huge help in determining where a station is located.

In July during this past summer, I picked up WXOS out of St. Louis, MO which is about 160 miles southwest of me on this radio. Not only did the RDS show me the call letters but their HD signal was decoded as well!

Batteries

This radio uses three AA batteries to run. The nice thing is you can find AA batteries at just about any store so you should never run out of power. I use rechargeable AA batteries so I can use them numerous times. Sadly, there are no batteries included with the radio.

AC adapter

Don’t fret about batteries not being included. Sangean has included an AC adapter with this radio. They do mention in the manual that if you use the AC adapter when listening to the AM band, you will hear increased noise due to the electronic components of the AC adapter. It doesn’t affect the FM band though.

Lock Switch

There’s nothing like throwing your radio in a bag and getting ready to use it at your destination and you notice the batteries are dead. This is why I like the lock feature on this radio. It prevents the buttons from causing the radio to come on inadvertently.

Dislikes

AM Bandwidth

I noticed when moving the radio around on an AM station that the bandwidth changes based on the signal strength. It gets more narrow on a weaker signal and wider on a stronger signal. Technically that’s a pretty cool feature but I would appreciate the ability to adjust the bandwidth manually. I have that capability on the C.Crane Skywave SSB radio that I’ve reviewed in the past.

No direct frequency entry

I’m nitpicking here again, but there is no way to enter a frequency by typing it in. You must use the up and down arrows to change the frequency. Of course you can store up to 20 frequencies per band as a preset which might save you some time.

Backlight

The backlight on the radio is nice but there is no way to leave it on continuously. Even plugged into AC, it shuts off after a few seconds. It would be nice to have an option to leave it on all the time or leave it off all the time.

Price

If you’re looking for a cheap portable AM/FM radio, this radio is probably not for you. This radio costs $80. However, if you want a radio that has AM, FM and HD radio with RDS built-in, then this is definitely a radio to consider. I think it’s actually worth the price for what all you get with it.

Where to buy

You can buy this on Amazon for around $80 + tax. I would also recommend getting a hard shell case for it to protect it.

Sangean HDR-14 Radio: https://amzn.to/3sOHKxA
Hermit Shell Hard case: https://amzn.to/3SxCEzS

Note: The links above are affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission should you buy anything through those links. If you do purchase through those links, it helps support my site and I greatly appreciate it!

Gallery

Original box for Sangean HDR-14
Hermit Shell hard case for HDR-14
Reception of WILL HD3
Reception of WILL HD1
Right side of HDR-14 radio
Left side of HDR-14 radio
Back of HDR-14 radio

Video Review

I also put together a video review of the radio if you want to check that out.

C.Crane CC Skywave SSB AM/FM/AIR/WX/SWL receiver

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I’ve always had a passion for listening to distant stations. It’s a big reason I eventually got into ham radio. Of course growing up there were a lot more shortwave stations out there than today, but there are still a few stations out there. The only shortwave receiver I have had since I was a teenager was my Radio Shack DX-392. I always use to take it with me to my grandma’s house and would listen to it for hours. (no smartphones or iPads back in those days!)

I still have the receiver today but it doesn’t seem to receive very well in my apartment. (not much does with all the electronics and RFI floating around) Still, I wondered if there was something newer that I could get that might work a little better. As you can see from the photo above, my DX-392 is huge and somewhat bulky to carry around. I wanted something a little smaller that I could take anywhere and enjoy listening to various signals. I researched the crap out of various shortwave receivers out there and was overwhelmed at what to get. I had to really ask myself what I wanted in a new radio. Size was the first priority but I didn’t want to give up performance.

I looked at the popular Tecsun models out there which everyone seems to really enjoy. I wasn’t sure but there was something about them that didn’t seem to be a fit for me. Maybe it was the weird signal strength display or the quirky undocumented features. Somehow I ended up looking at the C.Crane Skywave radio that was going for around $90-100 online. Everything about that looked great except no SSB. Being a ham, I like to listen to various digital and voice signals so this was a deal breaker to me.

As I was doing more reviews, I stumbled across a blog post over at The SWLing Post about a new radio from C.Crane with SSB. I went to the C.Crane website and investigated the CC Skywave SSB further. Not only did it have SSB on shortwave, but it also had the aviation band and NOAA weather radio frequencies.

Everyone seemed to be complaining more about the price than anything else. It was going for $169.99 though was on sale (and still is at the time of this post) for $149.99. Apparently they didn’t think the simple addition of SSB was worth almost doubling the price of the radio. Bah! Just take my money already! 🙂 I ordered the radio along with the power cord and some rechargeable AA batteries. I think I spent more time reading through their shipping policies which made me splurge for 2-day shipping as I didn’t want to wait forever to receive it.

Two days later I did in fact receive the radio. As soon as I opened the box I couldn’t believe just how small the radio was. I snapped a picture of it side by side with my DX-392 radio and it’s crazy how small it is. In the box they included one of those shortwave antenna reels that clips on to the telescoping antenna as well as some earbuds. The radio has a regular mini-usb for power/charging so if you have one of those laying around you can charge it that way too. (or charge the AA’s outside of the radio)

Ok that’s great and all but what does it sound like? First off I tried the shortwave bands and trusty WWV. I never expected to pick it up on the built in antenna but I did. I switched to the ham bands and was able to pick up lots of CW signals as well as a few voice stations. The filter choices are pretty nice as it goes from 6 khz all the way down to 500 hz which helps for those digital signals.

SSB: 4khz, 3khz, 2.2khz, 1.2khz, 1khz, 0.5khz
AM: 6khz, 4khz, 3khz, 2khz, 1khz

As for as tuning, there is a slight muting every time you turn the dial or press the up/down keys. I think that is normal with most shortwave radios including my old DX-392. You can switch to a slower 1khz tuning by gently pushing in on the tune knob. There is also a fine tune button when in SSB mode which acts like an RIT button in the ham world. It tunes in 10 hz steps to really tune in the signal which is great for ham conversations slightly off frequency.

A few notes about SSB mode. Yes, it has both LSB and USB! It takes a few seconds to engage once you press the SSB button. Also, I noticed on CW signals that there is a warble sound like the frequency isn’t stable. Not a big deal but just wanted to mention it.

Broadcast FM stations sound great too. It does not have RDS which was something I wanted but gave up for all the other features but I can live without that. The airband hasn’t impressed me much though we don’t have too much air traffic in the area. I can pick up the ATIS weather but the audio is really low. I’m not sure if that’s the signal itself or the radio just having low audio on that band. It’s not a big deal as I don’t monitor the air bands much anyway but just wanted to point it out.

The NOAA weather band works great and picked up the local station full scale no problems. It does have a weather alert feature, but it’s very basic and only works for 4, 8 or 16 hours. I think it’s meant more for people traveling or hiking to temporarily alert them vs a 24/7 alert feature you’d get in a dedicated weather radio.

The surprising band I’m really enjoying is the AM broadcast band. It really comes alive at night when some stations can run more power. I live in downstate Illinois and have consistently picked up WLW-700 in Cincinnati, Ohio, WSM-650 in Nashville, Tennessee, CJBC-860 in Toronto, Canada and even WCBS-880 in New York! This is all using the internal antenna inside of an apartment. A lot of stations have noise on the signal but if you turn the radio one way or the other it often nulls out the noise which is awesome. Since it’s so small and portable, you can move it around and find the best position for the particular station you are trying to receive.

As for battery life, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about running out. Even with the backlight on, it should last you a long time. I haven’t run it down yet and only charged it once. That is a lot better than my DX-392 which requires 3 AA batteries to store the memories and 4 D batteries to actually power the thing. The CC Skywave SSB only takes 2 AA batteries. The manual states around 60+ hours of battery using speaker and 70+ hours using the earbuds.

So if you are in the market for a very portable radio that does AM/FM/AIR/WX/SWL with SSB then I would definitely recommend this radio. I’ve had a lot of fun with it and can’t wait to take it with me wherever I travel.

More info/Purchase: C.Crane CC Skywave SSB radio