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Based on experiences working VA, WV, MD & NC QSO parties as a mobile, I started working on a concept in 2017 to create something more local that new technicians could participate in, and that would recreate the cooperative spirit that these particular contests promote. I wonder if this might be a good HVARC project? Some basic tenets: 1 - Brief and local. 4 hours at most, over a limited geographic area. Creating 'localities' out of extended Maidenhead squares. Would conclude with a picnic for the participants. Maybe even a tailgate sale? 2 - Educational purposes would be to familiarize new hams with the grid squares, contest procedures, on-air courtesy, and maybe even Cabrillo. 3 - A practical purpose would be to identify prime accessible vantage points where simple radios could be placed to create a reliable communications network. 4 - Opportunities for listen-only participants, including possible fox hunting, scavenger hunting, or even a receive-only…

There's a new app in town: VoxDMR. Runs well on Windows and Android. Windows version is only 25 Mb download and NO INSTALLER required. It runs right from the .EXE file in the folder where ever you save it. Linux, Mac, and iOS support on the way.

Just visit: https://www.voxdmr.com/

Simple to configure:

• DMR ID (get one at radioid.net if you don't already have one, it's free).

• Brandmeister and/or TGIF account (free, just register).

• Your Brandmeister and/or TGIF hotspot password (available in Self-Care at both website). VoxDMR app looks like a hotspot to the DMR networks.

Nice summary covering a variety of ham radio topics. Free to subscribe, just visit here: https://hamweekly.com/

Need even more ham radio news? Here's a nice listing of print only as well as online ham magazines:

https://codeberg.org/K3LOE/Amateur_Radio_Magazines/src/branch/main/list.md

List is updated on a regular basis.

73 es enjoy! Mike

RATS unveiled an awesome interactive online tool to help generate codeplugs for a variety of DMR radios including the Baofeng DM32. You pick your radio, then you select a combination of datasets of interest which will pull from their massive database of 1,842 channels in 168 zones and 9 datasets. It's available for PUBLIC BETA (no RATS membership required) through April 5. A big thank you to KG4PEQ and the RATS codeplug team for their work.

Visit: https://codeplugs.rats.net/ and click on the TRY IT button at the top of the screen.

The tool generates separte CSV files for Zones, Talk Groups, and Channels which you can import directly into your CPS software and use to program your radio. I've been testing it with my DM32's and it is a HUGE time saver.

One note for DM32 users: when CPS 1.45 for DM32 creates a blank codeplug, it does NOT include…