DG1GMY — German Amateur Radio Station - JN48CS - Sinzheim/Baden-Baden

PREFACE

VISITOR NOTE — This is a private hobby site, mainly designed as a landing page for all visitors coming from i.e. QRZ.COM, QRZCQ.COM, HAMQTH.COM, dg1gmy.darc.de, eQSL.CC, QSL.net and alike.

No tracking, no ads, no nags. Just a simple CMS to provide a single point of content (and simple, streamlined content management).

This site is solely targeted to (soon-to-be) ham radio operators worldwide. If you arrived here "by accident" and wonder what this is all about, you may want to check i.e. Wikipedia's record on Amateur Radio, the website of the ARRL - American Radio Relay League, RSGB - Radio Society of Great Britain or of course the website of the DARC - Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (in German) - just to name a few! Offical authority Site (BNA - Bundesnetzagentur, German language) is a good resource as well. If you still have questions, feel free to check out my contact details at the very end of this page. I'll be happy to help...!

 

Updated: April 2, 2024 | Minor text updates only.

BASICS

• OP: Michael
• LOC: JN48cs
• DARC DOK: A04 (OV Bühl)
• CITY: Sinzheim near Baden-Baden, close to river Rhine / Upper Rhine Valley, wine region, right behind the Fremersberg (SOTA DM/BW-861)
• QSL: pse eQSL or via DARC bureau
• FM simplex standby: 144.575 MHz and/or 145.500 MHz and/or 430.050 MHz (Echolink DB0BHE-L)
• FM repeater standby: DB0XK (Kalmit) 145.700 MHz and/or F5ZCQ (Wissembourg) 145.725 MHz, also DB0ORT 438.775 MHz (overall FM repeater standby is quite limited)
• DMR BM MMDVM hotspot standby: mainly TG 26277 (Schwarzwald), TG 26377 (Ortenau) and/or TG 262709 (Bridge to YSF "DE-SCHWARZWALD")
• DMR TGIF MMDVM hotspot standby: mainly TG 26271 (Baden), TG 26277 (Schwarzwald)
• DMR repeater standby via DB0BH (Bühl, 439.075 MHz), only when portable/mobile: TG 26377 DB0BH unfortunately went offline ;-(
• HF standby: As of writing this I am mostly on 40m in JS8 (7.078 MHz) or 20m (14.105 MHz) on VarAC testing various TRX/interface/antenna/portable setups. See further details below.

HISTORY

I built my first crystal radio (in one of these orange “tic tac” boxes) based on the book “Fun with electronics” (German version) and went on with further projects that drove my parents crazy ("Why do you need this long wire across the living room?"; "Why do you need another wire to the sink in the kitchen?"... :-)

I probably wouldn't be a radio amateur without this book - followed by many, many more books...

 

And yes, I use an ebook reader since "the early days". But I still love books. You know, these heavy things made out of paper. Paper? Yes, you know...! ;-) If you are looking for "some inspiration on the subject of paper and reading" you may want to watch i.e. The Outer Limits - S03 E05 - Stream Of Consciousness. A classic episode!

Well, things moved on and I created a strong interest in all radio and home computer related stuff in the early/mid 80s - and finally became licensed in the late 80s. I was "heavily involved" in i.e. Packet Radio in the 90s. Then mostly QRT in the 2000s (other priorities, focus moved from the technical side to the business management side; plenty of QRL projects; traveling internationally...). Occasionally QRV again in the tens... (fiddling with some homebrew stuff, early home automation etc.). Very slowly catching up again with amateur radio in ~2015-2019 (i.e. some visits to HAM RADIO fair in Friedrichshafen, some new rig purchases & mods, new QTH, some homebrew antennas, plenty of little RPi, Arduino and ESP32 projects, some RX on various bands, also playing with SDR, DMR etc.) Back again and “really radio active” since early 2020 - coincidentally all coming together just a few weeks before the 1st C***** lockdown...!

 

The smaller the Pi, the bigger the fan ;-) This is one of my RPIs used for HF digimodes...

PRESENCE

Based on my longer break I am still catching up with my "2nd ham life” while learning new stuff and especially new modes every day. Plenty of reading, tinkering etc. I really love my RPIs (>14 in total, from v1 Mod. B to v4 Mod. B and a few Zero Ws and Zero 2Ws, 8 in operation, others for testing...).

Building small to midsize antennas is an ever onoing project. Yes, there is some space in my backyard. No, never enough ;-) As many other hams I connect hiking with portable operations. I mostly combine these hikes with some "unofficial" SOTA/COTA (meaning I climb up to these spots, may have some rig with me and do portable operations, but rarely participate in offical SOTA/COTA contests or similar. At least up until today.) DM/BW-861 (see picture below) is virtually next door – and plenty of similar hills are around as well. Always ready for a weekend country walk ;-)

 

Sinzheim (almost invisible in the front) and the Fremersberg in the back

 

I clearly fancy digital modes (always did - and somehow miss Packet Radio for whatever reason ;-) Prefer QRP and all types of KISS operations. Also played a lot with WSPR to learn “what’s possible with almost nothing” using my Arduinos and Raspberry Pis for RX/TX – plus some “regular rig” and various antenna setups. VarAC and JS8Call are the preferred digi modes on HF as of writing this, yet I really appreciate the diversity of what ham radio is about nowadays – analog & digital. The DMR playground is great as well! And some ragchew on FM/DMR/YSF and elsewhere if time allows.

 

 

In early 2021 I started with various LoRa APRS devices on 433.775 MHz. It appeared to be a "nice ham/maker project" to test reach, reactivate some buried programming skills, play again with various configurations and sensors etc. - in a nutshell: do cool stuff and learn something new.

 

 

The cheap ESP32-LoRa boards (incl. GPS and OLED displays etc). combined with i.e. some 3D printing (for cases etc.) provided a quick entry into this segment of the hobby. I started to build a number of trackers, added some more sensors and a WX station, printed and mounted trackers i.e. onto my bike and into the car and did some initial testing so far. Another piece of the puzzle is the LoRa iGATE (now operating under DG1GMY-10) to provide additional coverage to the region.

 

 

The current LoRa iGATE coverage is "a good portion" of the nearby A5 (autobahn) and the Upper Rhine Valley/Alsace region. Based on my QTH I seem to currently provide "more depth than width". See recent screenshot below. Further updates and optimization to follow.

 

As a small "side project" I also build a ground station as part of an Open Source Global Satellite Network. See www.tinygs.com (formerly known as "ESP32 Fossa Groundstation") for details. As stated on the above linked ground station dashboard my setup is far from perfect and still needs various improvements... That's why I call it a side project :-)

RIG

My little shack is currently equipped with a Yaesu FT450D and FT818, plus 2 x Xiegu G90, a Yaesu FT-736R, Yaesu FTM-300, Icom IC-2725E, Icom IC-290D, a QYT-KT-8900D and an AnyTone AT-778UV (some SHACK/RIG photos to be included here later on ...). One of the G90s and the FT818 is used for portable. Also own a larger number of handhelds for FM, C4FM and DMR, i.e. Yaesu FTE3DE, AnyTone D878UV Plus, Tytera MD-UV390, Retevis RT3s, Radioddity GD77, Baofeng DM-1801, two Baofeng DM-1701 and two Radioddity/Baofeng RD-5R.

All the latter ones are used for ongoing testing/working with OpenGD77, OpenMD380, OpenDM1801, OpenDM1701, OpenRD5R etc. You may want to review the OpenGD77.com forum. I am very thankful to the overall project and to all previous, current and future developers, contributors, translaters, testers and supporters! The code and the forum etc. provided me with a great DMR learning experience and a lot of fun that is still ongoing...

 

 

This is my originally planned antenna setup!
Only joking - this is the radio tower on top of the Fremersberg - my backyard hill ;)

 

My overall antenna setup is always in a state of flux. As of Spring 2024 I use i.e. 3 x ~20m homebrew/modified 5-band EndFeds (1 x FT450, 1 x G90, 1x RPi4/OpenWebRX in various directions and in various positions around the house (L-shape, Inverted-V, SBSIAT (“straight but spans into a tree”).

Did I mention that space is always an issue? ;-)) As for VHF/UHF I use commercial and homebrew groundplanes for now, plus two homebrew 9-element dual-band yagis and a 5-element yagi for a NPR70.

Antennas are one of my main playgrounds, so I currently have a shelf full of purchased/modified and homebrew antennas – plus plenty of material to build more. And there is always room (yet not space :-) for improvement. Some pictures are planned to be included here for reference - but they really hard to make due to my "stealth material approach" ;-)

 

(Back to the) FUTURE

I never really asked for QSL cards in my “1st ham life”. Might be changing - even for paper copies. I only registered my eQSL.CC account in early 2021 and was stunned to see QSLs waiting in there since almost two decades... Well, that's what happens when you drop out of a tech hobby while digitalization just started to gain pace, right!? ;-)

Yet this overall change in ham radio (that I unfortunately skipped since the early 2000s) provided a larger number of new playgrounds and all the fun and educational approaches that go along with it. It's the "L³" or "triple-L" - the life long learning that makes ham radio such a great hobby. It's what brought me back to amateur radio after all the years. And talking to other OMs it seems I am in good company!

WHAT'S NEXT?

All of the above – plus something new and exciting every day...

Some of the ongoing projects:

• new LoRa APRS iGATE setup (PoE based) – DONE. Currently running in parallel as -14. Meant to replace -10 while moving to a slightly better QTH...
  
• further additions/improvements to the LoRa WX station(s)
  
• further additions to my various MMDVM repeater setups – DONE.
  Can't count the number of boards I have any longer ;-)
  
• additional hardware and antenna modifications for my TinyGS...
• an additional set of 13-element yagis for 144/430 MHz (SSB operations and maybe some contesting...)
• an additional HF vertical antenna setup for digimode and SSB testing (I may need to immolate one of the EndFeds to keep the "WAF" going ;-)
• some additional DIY equipment (all-in-one.box, solar powered devices, additional antennas etc.) for garden & portable operations...
• plus additional projects on the horizon (as always :-)
• Well, and using all the stuff to be on the air from time to time ;-)

CONTACT

Feel free to contact me by email (callsign at "gee-mail" dot com), via the well-known ham radio platforms, or on the various bands and modes as provided in the above sections.

73, Michael — DG1GMY

Team YAGARS ;-)
Yet Another German Amateur Radio Site
Yet Another German Amateur Radio Station