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The HAM Page
How to Use a Spectrum Analyzer
Larry W3OZ has written a great 'how-to' page on using a spectrum analyzer to make your transmit audio sound better. If you want to know what to do with HamAlyzer, this is a great place to look. Don't stop at this page, though. His entire site is packed with information about ham setups, equipment, ssb, and everything else ham related, so spend some time there. You'll also find links to other hams' pages who are equally knowledgeable, so you'll be able to learn all you need to know.
Main Page (good place to start)
Using an Analyzer (jump right in)
Thanks guys
HamAlyzer started out as a project I started after taking a digital signal
processing class. It was a pretty simple, basic spectrum analyzer. I eventually added a few features, and released
a version to simtel as a freeware program. After a while, I was contacted by Dick
Turske W8YYY, who asked if I would be interested in making some changes to the existing program to make it
suitable for use by HAMs. I said sure. So for the next few months, Dick, Tom Morton W5TOM, Sam Kennedy Kt4QW, and
I worked on the new program. It came out pretty good, we were happy with it. We called it HamAlyzer, I put up
a website, made the program available for download, and sat back to see what happens.
It's really been unbelievable. There have been thousands of downloads. There are now registered users in over
30 US states, and others from 14 different countries on 5 continents, and counting. HamAlyzer got a full page
review in QST magazine's November 2001 issue by Editor Steve Ford (also a registered user). Wow. I can't thank
Tom Dick and Sam enough for their help, suggestions, words of encouragement, and also for promoting the program.
Here are links to each of their websites:
Dick W8YYY
Sam KT4QW
Tom W5TOM
When you talk to them, say hi from Chris.
Invited talk at MAC, Chicago
Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking at the monthly meeting of an amateur radio group known as MAC,
or Metro Amateur Radio Club, based in Chicago. I had a great time, and they're a fantastic bunch of guys. I talked about digital signal
processing, and of course HamAlyzer. There was a great question and answer session after the talk that lasted over an hour-
they had to kick us out of the building because we stayed so late! And to top it all off, Krispy Kreme's! Here's a link to their website:
http://www.qsl.net/mac ...Check it out!
Software I recommend
Nowadays, finding software that does what it's supposed to, doesnt' crash your computer, doesn't take up 20 gigs of hard drive space, and
doesn't cost your right arm isn't easy. That is the spirit in which I started HamAlyzer. There are many other companies and individuals making
quality software, even in this age of Microsoft and monolithic software companies reaping billions in sales with buggy, bloated crap.
I decided to make a list of other software that I feel is worthwhile. I have no affiliation with any of the authors, I can only offer my
personal endorsement for them. It's always good to know about worthwhile software out there.
If you know of some software that you think should be on the list, just let me know. In no particular order:
Opera Web Browser
http://www.opera.com
Your not stuck with either Internet Explorer or Netscape. In my opinion, Opera is far superior to either. It's small, stable, standards compliant,
and unbelievably fast.
ClickTeam Install Maker
http://www.clickteam.com
This is a great program by a small company based in France. As with Opera, it has all the attributes that make it a great piece of software. If
your a programmer, you need this software.
CDRWin CD Writing Software
http://www.goldenhawk.com
I am fed up with EZ CD Creator. It is horribly slow on my Windows XP machine. And in order to get it to run at all, you have to purchase an
upgrade. CDRWin is inexpensive, and is much more useful and stable. And, it doesn't come with creepy little anthropomorphic characters pointing and
laughing at you.
Five by Five FCC / ham radio test preparation
http://www.hamexam.com
Inexpensive, and designed with maximum time efficiency in mind, the software is regularly updated to be current with changing FCC
regulations and test banks.
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