VarAC Wednesday results for Wednesday July 2, 2025 Thank you for checking into VarAC Wednesday. There were 88 check-ins (71 unique call signs) this week: 4Z1AC, 4Z5PE, AA5GW, AI3KS, DU2UXH, F5CBP, G7DPE, HB9AVK, HF9T, IZ3XNJ, JI1BQW, K3JSJ, K8SRR, K8TJM, K9AHO, K9AJC, KB0US, KB3ZKD, KB8MRC, KC0TAF, KC3QLX, KD9RJT, KE8PLM, KF8BKU, KH7BR, KI5VYM, KK6QMS, KQ4LWP, KQ4QQO, KW9Q, LA5XIA, MM0ZFG, MM7BFL, N1RDN, N3MEL, N3XL, N5YYF, N8UO, N9MEC, NJ2DX, OE5HMR, OH6CRU, OZ9EEE, PD2GCM, PD5JOS, PI4SRN, SM3LDP, SV1UY, SV8PMM, VA7XFM, VE7PHM, W0RDR, W4BZM, W7RTA, WB3AU, WB3ILX, WB4AU, WC2F, WD4U, WH6ECG, WH7D, WJ4K, ZS1DUT, ZS1NJP, ZS20K, ZS20K/P, ZS2OK, ZS4DCC, ZS4P, ZS6WDL Thank you email gateways stations. There were 43 email gateways this week (number beside call sign is number of messages relayed): 4Z1AC(5), 4Z5PE(1), DL0NOT(1), DX2CAR(1), F5CBP(3), HB9AVK(2), IW2GOB(1), JA1VBN(1), K3SMK(1), K3TJLN(1), K6HN(3), K9AHO(1), K9KDJ(2), KB3ZKD(2), KC3QLX(1), KE4ZV(7), KE5JLN(4), KI5VYM(1), KW9Q(3), KY4DR(2), MM0ZFG(2), N1RDN(1), N3XL(2), OE5HMR(1), OH6CRU(1), OH8XAT(3), OZ9EEE(2), PD2GCM(4), PD5JOS(1), S57MK(1), SV1UY(2), W0RDR(1), W2JKT(2), WD4U(1), WJ4K(3), WJ9H(1), WR9R(4), WY6Y(4), ZS2OK(1), ZS2OK/P(1), ZS3DCC(1), ZS5GJK(1), ZS6WDL(5) July is our 2^7 challenge. We are looking to double the number of participants from 64 to 128. This week we are up 11% from last week! Mark (KB0US) and Jason (K3JSJ) look forward to seeing you again next week. We encourage everyone to share about VarAC Wednesday. 73, Mark KB0US Jason K3JSJ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Background on VarAC Wednesday and instructions on how to check-in are posted here: VarAC Wednesday – Jason Johnson – Ham Radio operator

VarAC Wednesday results for Wednesday June 25, 2025 There were 68 check-ins (64 unique call signs) this week: 4X6LP, 4Z1AC, 4Z5PE, AA5GW, AI3KS, DU2UXH, DU3GKT, F5CBP, JI1BQW, K0OG, K3JSJ, K8SRR, K8TJM, K9AHO, K9AJC, KB0US, KB3ZKD, KC0TAF, KC3QLX, KC9AOE, KE4ZV, KE8DIE, KE8PLM, KF0MVS, KF0QGT, KQ4PLL, LA5XIA, M0BLH, M0YFO, N1RDN, N3XL, N5XHI, N5YYF, N8CMB, N8UO, N9MUF, NJ2DX, OE3FQU, OH6CRU, ON2AD, PD2GCM, PD5JOS, PI4SRN, SP1DOZ, SV1UY, VE3OOZ, W0RDR, W5TTA, W7EAZ, W7RTA, WC2F, WD0ETG, WD4U, WH6ECG, WH7D, WJ4K, ZS1DUT, ZS2OK, ZS2OK/P, ZS3TG, ZS4DCC, ZS4P, ZS6KBS, ZS6MDX Email Gateways used: 4Z1AC(1), 4Z5PE(1), BX4ACP(1), DL6EAC(1), DX2CAR(2), HB9AVK(4), K3JSJ(1), K5VV(3), K6HN(3), K8SRR(1), K8TJM(1), K9KDJ(4), KB3ZKD(1), KC3QLX(1), KC9AOE(1), KE4ZV(5), KF4YHC(1), N1RDN(1), N3JXB(1), N4VAD(1), N9MEC(1), OH6CRU(2), OH8XAT(1), PD0WAG(1), PD2GCM(3), PD5JOS(2), VE3OOZ(1), VP9NM(2), W0RDR(1), W5TTA(1), WD4U(1), WJ4K(4), WY6Y(5), ZS2OK(2), ZS2OK/P(1), ZS5GJK(1), ZS6SI(1), ZS6WDL(3) Mark (KB0US) and Jason (K3JSJ) look forward to seeing you again next week. We would encourage you to tell others about VarAC Wednesday. We look forward to having you check-in next Wednesday by sending an email to varacwednesday@gmail.com via a VarAC email relay. 73, Mark KB0US Jason K3JSJ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PLEASE ENTER THE SUBJECT EXACTLY AS SHOWN. I USE A SOFTWARE TOOL TO EXTRACT EMAILS TO A SPREADSHEET AND IF YOU DON'T ENTER IT AS DESCRIBED, I HAVE TO MANUALLY GO BACK AND FIND YOUR ENTRY. To: varacwednesday@gmail.com Subject: VarAC Wednesday Check-In Message body: call sign, first name, city or town, county, state (HF or VHF, etc.) EXAMPLE 1: WA8YNQ, Mark, Cincinnati, Hamilton, OH (HF) EXAMPLE 2: ZS1OSS, Daniel, Cape Town, South Africa (VHF) Detailed instructions in Recent Files in this Group, on the KB0US QRZ page, or the varac-hamradio forum. MPORTANT NOTES: 1) Check-ins who do not use a VarAC EMAIL GATEWAY will not be counted. 2) You must be on V11.0.7 or greater. Be sure to check Send to Email in the VMAIL dialog box. 3) YOU DO NOT NEED AN EMAIL GATEWAY ON YOUR INSTALLATION OF VARAC TO CHECK IN! You will be using the GATEWAY of the beacon displaying the "link" icon that you connect with. 4) V11.4.0 is now available! Canned messages are now available in the VMAIL dialog box making participation in VarAC Wednesday even easier! 5) Check in Wednesday in your local time. If it's Wednesday for you, it works for me. 73, Jason K3JSJ

Thank you for this guidance and information.

Having similar issue with messages to a station being PARKED. Local operator, N3XL, is running a 40M and 2M instance on his computer. He has configured instance for Internet delivery. I have asked him to confirm that "auto relay" is enabled. He checked and it was not enabled on his station, hence message were not getting delivered to the Internet.

Mode DATA has been in LOTW for some time. I have used this before but for a match for LOTW QSL believe the mode by both operators needs to match.

I checked on Windows 10 and when VaraC loads on my machine a new application with title that includes VaraC appears. Does the “Apperance and Sound” only appear after an announcement comes in VaraC?

Your first picture was of the sound card devices. The second picture is of apps that are loaded and running that are accessing sound card devices. The icon of “Appearance and Settings” matches that of VarAc.

A local operator had the same issue with his Kenwood HF radio and OMNIRIG. We resolved the issue but cannot recall at the moment. Is it possible to directly control your radio through CAT control in VARAC?

This happens when the audio codec for SignalLink is set as the default speaker in Windows. Any sound output from applications or Windows will trigger the VOX on SignalLink and it will be broadcast. Suggestions for preventing this from happening going forward: * digital applications signal transmission chain: go into the audio configuration of Vara HF/Vara 2M, WSJTX, FLDIGI, etc. and select the Output device to pick the CODEC of your SignalLink. * Digital, logging, helper applications audio alerts: go into the audio configuration and for any alert or voice announcements select the specific device of the “speaker” that you want to output. example apps would be : VARAC, Fldigi, Gridtracker, and your logging app. * Always check what Windows has selected as the default speaker before operating. Before you operate verify that Windows did not select the SignalLink as the “default speaker”. If it did change the output to the speaker you want Windows to output on. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any issues. Jason K3JSJ

I asked a couple of questions in my email. I'll forward yor the message.

Last feedback received was adding modes impacts awards. It sounded liked details were being worked. I just send a follow up email to W9JJ who is over radio sports at ARRL I would encourage others to contact him to express support for adding DYNAMIC mode (for VARA)

Thank you for that. That sounds like a good way to inform the user so they know the reason why the Vara modem closed.

Understand that VaraC was not designed to communicate with WINLINK. In most applications when windows close unexpectedly the user's perspective is that the program crashed. We are advocating for VaraC to the considered for EMMCOM use in MDC section. Aborting the Vara modem with no explanation of why the program aborted creates a barrier for adoption. WINLINK provides a standard banner string that is provided upon connection. Could VaraC be updated to check and then gracefully close the session (not closing Vara modem)? Could VaraC report this to the user in more plain language?

Thank you for this screen shot. I will talk with Milford about configuring OMNIRIG with these settings.

I am the operator, K3JSJ, helping Milford, N3WYG, troubleshoot VaraC and VARA HF for his Kenwood TS-480SAT. OMNIRIG has been configured to work with Milford's TS-480SAT and WSJTX works great. When the radio is keyed audio from WSJTX goes out to the Signalink which then goes into the DATA port of the radio and FT8 QSOs are successful. We configured VaraC to use OMNIRIG for CAT control (PTT and Frequency Control). The button to key the radio works. The button to switch modes works as well. We selected USB as the mode since that is what is supposed to be used for the TS-480SAT for digital modes (non RTTY). We saved and closed the Radio configuration settings and then clicked the BEACON button and the radio keyed but no audio was transmitted. The Kenwood TS-480SAT CAT commands has a TX0 and TX1 command. (See page 22 of [1]). The TX0 command tells the radio to take audio from the microphone input. The TX1 command tells the radio to take the audio from the DATA port (which comes from the SignalLink). What "TX" string does VaraC tell CAT control to use? @ptaa32 : Would it be possible to get a screen shot of your OMNIRIG and VaraC settings as well as version number of Vara HF? [1] - PC CONTROL COMMAND (kenwood.com)

Kim, Thank you for confirming that QRZ.com and eQSL now have support for VARA. I use N3FJP as my logging application with real time upload to eQSL and LOTW. I need to double check if it has been updated to handle Vara. I am going to revisit my current records and update them to reflect VARA.

Gary, Yes - for sure. I contacted them by submitting a ticket through LOTW. Maybe a standard message can be drafted and provided to VaraC users to encourage adoption of the mode.

@iradThank you for that explanation. I checked the URL provided in the email announcement and it appears to re-direct to the URL that Norton flagged. Appears Norton is flagging due to the file not being signed. Glad to hear you are working on obtaining a certificate to sign the application.

A ZIP file was downloaded. The Varac.exe file was extracted into the D:\Program Files (x86) folder to overwrite the older version. The Varac.exe file was run and the pop-up from Anti-virus (attached) showed. The URL that was used to download does not match this URL. Is Varac.exe reaching out to this URL to side load additional components? Is the URL used to download re-directing to the URL shown in the screen shot? Please explain exactly what is going on.