AmateurRadio.com

This morning I worked Jos, ON6WJ in Belgium. He was operating with a homebrew rig that uses little pencil tubes like the one used in the original Sputnik. He was running 700mw!

This is the anniversary of the original beeping Sputnik. A group of QRP guys, lead by Michael Rainey, AA1TJ, built some replicas of the original transmitter and run them every year on 21.060 to commemorate Sputnik.

This morning Jos was solid copy in New Hampshire. In fact, he was 579 for a good part of our QSO. Here’s an audio clip of Jos calling CQ.

ON6WJ

After the QSO Jos and I exchanged emails. He sent me a photo of the little rig. Here it is:

I was running 8 watts to start and then I dropped my power to 1W. I was using an OCF dipole. Working a 700mw station across the pond is a major thrill! Thanks Jos.

Hello! My name is Enoch Heise and I am a 17-year-old Life Scout and General Class Amateur Radio Operator (KE5HWQ). I’m also working on installing a repeater for my Eagle Project.

I would like to tell you about the Jamboree on the Air, an exciting annual event which crosses over both Scouting and Amateur Radio, and give you 3 reasons why you should definitely plan on participating this October.

What is JOTA?

From arrl.org:

“When Scouts want to meet young people from another country, they usually think of attending a World Jamboree. But few people realize that each year more than 400,000 Scouts and Guides “get together” over the airwaves for the annual Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA). Modern technology offers Scouts the exciting opportunity to make friends in other countries without leaving home.

JOTA is an annual event in which Boy and Girl Scouts and Guides from all over the world speak to each other by means of Amateur (ham) Radio. Scouting experiences are exchanged and ideas are shared via radio waves. Since 1958 when the first Jamboree-on-the-Air was held, millions of Scouts have met each other through this event. Many contacts made during JOTA have resulted in pen pals and links between Scout troops that have lasted many years.

With no restrictions on age or on the number of participants, and at little or no expense, JOTA allows Scouts to contact each other by ham radio. The radio stations are operated by licensed amateur radio operators. Many Scouts and leaders hold licenses and have their own stations, but the majority participate in JOTA through stations operated by local radio clubs and individual radio amateurs. Some operators use television or computer-linked communications.

JOTA is held the third weekend in October of each year. JOTA takes place starting Saturday at 0000 hours local time (12:00 AM) to Sunday, 23.59 hours local time (12:00 PM), though some activity continues over from Friday to Monday to take advantage of long distance (DX) time differences.”

I have participated in JOTA for three years now, and these events comprise some of my fondest memories from my Scouting experience, and this year I will be volunteering for the JOTA event at the National Scouting Museum in Irving, TX.

So, if you’re not already convinced to participate in JOTA, here are 3 good reasons why this is an event that you can’t pass up:

Reason #1: The opportunity to make an impact in some young mens’ lives

Before the days of the Internet, Radio was one of the biggest, quickest, most cutting edge methods of communication; and, coincidentally, Ham Radio was born at about the same time as Scouting. Naturally, early Scouts found Ham Radio to be a very effective way to exercise the Scout Motto: Be Prepared! And it still is today.

Many Scouts throughout Scouting’s history have been licensed Ham Radio Operators, and any Scout today can become one. Today, the two main ways Radio has been officially implemented into Scouting are through the Jamboree on the Air and through the B.S.A.’s Radio Merit Badge.

Yet, sadly, many Scouts today haven’t heard about Amateur Radio. JOTA is a great way to get the word out and introduce many new Scouts to the value and excitement of Amateur Radio. Your involvement in JOTA can help Scouts discover this fantastic hobby and community service.

Reason #2: Community

Perhaps you’re already involved in the local Ham Radio and Scouting Communities. But whether you are or not, JOTA is a great way to get to meet new people in both Scouting and Ham Radio. The deeper I have gotten into both Scouting and Amateur Radio, the more I have come to realize that they share a lot of similarities beneath the surface.

Many Adult Scout Leaders and Ham Radio Operators share similar values and have similar interests. JOTA is one of the biggest events where these two communities overlap, and it is an excellent opportunity to make new connections and friendships with other like-minded people in your community.

These days, most communities are very spread out and poorly connected. This has several disadvantages, especially in the event of a local disaster, something both Scouting and Ham Radio are dedicated to prepare for. JOTA can bring the community closer together and make it better prepared to face anything that comes its way.

Reason #3: The Joy of Ham Radio

JOTA is a great opportunity to get out and operate on many different modes and bands. At the National Scouting Museum in Irving, TX, they will have the following stations set up:

• HF Voice Station
• HF PSK31 Station
• VHF local and Echolink
• UHF IRLP
• Hidden transmitter hunts
• Solar telescopes and Space weather
• AMSAT Satellite demos
• NTS message origination
• Morse Code education (Promote Morse Interpreter Strip award)
• ARISS contact setup and execution

Even if you are an experienced Amateur Radio operator you may not have gotten to try out all of these activities. With a a little preparation, your local club or group can put together a JOTA experience that is fun for not only the Scouts, but for every Ham!

JOTA gives you the chance to be involved in some young men’s lives; it gives you a chance to connect with your community; and it just a super-fun activity to take part in!

If you don’t have any plans for JOTA this year, now is the time to make some! All-in-all, Jamboree-on-the-Air is a wonderful event that has much to offer to Scouts, Scout Leaders, and Ham Radio enthusiasts of all ages!

Recently I came across my old RTTY hamcom modem when cleaning my garage. Built from scrap parts and inspired by Peter PA1SDB at the time we were both experimenting on CB. I even remember we transmitted kind of a RTTY bulletin on CB every sundayevening at that time. And after we got our licenses we regulary were found on the 2 Meter band receiving the local World Link RTTY bulletin by PA3ESF. Most of the HAMs involved used software called Intercom by PA3BYZ at that time. All nice RTTY memories for me, but things can get more crazy as before my first efforts with RTTY and before my time there were the old mechanical  Telex machines. There are still HAMs like PE1ARD Arnold who have these telex machines working and use them in their radioshacks, incredible! Find a video here: http://youtu.be/ku_JlxlTLIA and take a look at around 10:40. And so….we’re doing a RTTY contest these days on HF. A antique mode used to do contest inspired by the past I think. As there is a large number of stations participating it is very populair. not really my mode outside contesting, I prefer something modern like PSK or JT65. Most interesting RTTY contest is probabely last weekends CQWW RTTY contest which has lots of DX stations that participate. Unfortenately I had less time Saturday and in the evening 10 and 15m were closed. So I made some QSOs on 80, 40 and 20m. Sunday was better and I could attend the shack in the morning with my harmonic Anneli. When starting the computer I checked the 11m band as always to check propagation possebilities on 10m. I heard an old CB radio friend and made a QSO with him first. After that I moved to 10m and made my first QSO to Japan, the next station was my neighbourstation PA0O Jaap. I made a small sked with Jaap on 70cm FM, Jaap told me that propagation would be not as good as saturday because of a magnetic storm. He told me also he heard Hawaii and Guam on 10m, but it was hard to make the QSO because of the pile-ups. So unfortunate I thought I was too late for DX….well after all I think I did make some:

10m RTTY most interesting DX worked: JR4GPA Japan, KG6DX Guam, NH2T Guam, P49X Aruba, FM5CD Martinique, FR5GS Reunion isl., AY8A Argentina, CW90A Uruquay, 4M5IR Venezuela, HK1R Colombia, HI8PLE Dominican Rep., PY2NY Brazil and of course lots of USA and Canada both east and west coast.

Fall colors are starting to show. I could see them every where during my brief bike ride in East Andover. I stopped on the trail at a small brook, and set up at a picnic table. I worked Russia, Czech Republic and England.

It was a short afternoon ride… maybe three miles. On a whim I stopped by a small bridge and set up some gear. I stayed on 20 meters with a half wave wire and 4 watts from the HB-1B. Right off I heard Alex, R2UZ in Russia calling CQ. He answered and gave me a 559.  Up the band a bit, Jan OK1RO in the Czech Republic gave me a 569. A few minutes later, I came across Dave, G0GKH. He gave me a 569, but said there was lots of QSB on my signal. Non-the-less, he copied all of my information. He was running 100 watts to a G5RV.

After 15 minutes of operating, I packed up and continued on the ride. It was a perfect day for an outing. The sun was warm even though the ambient temperature was only around 60F. I kept a light fleece jacket on throughout.

The mighty, omnipotent sun that our precious emerald and sapphire orb circulates is nearing the crescendo of its eleven year repeat-performance.

For the first time since 2003, I have revisited the high frequencies: the short waves of equal delight and frustration that ebb and flow with the days, seasons and years. Back then, I worked the world with 10 Watts and a rather long wire antenna. I stayed up all night sometimes to listen to the magical waxing and waning of distant continents on 80m. It was like listening to a sublime symphony. Having moved to a new house with more limited prospects for creating a good HF antenna system, I turned my back on these noble frequencies to chase the excitement of VHF and UHF.

Ironically, the drive for portable operation at V/UHF has led me to flirt with HF again. It’s the inevitable purchase of arguably one of the best amateur radios ever manufactured, the Yaesu FT-817. Five delightful Watts from top band, all the way to 70cm. MF to UHF. Sea level to mountain top. CW to FM, with all modes in between. What a gem of beautifully packaged, miniaturised happiness.

FT-817 tuned to 10m

With 5W of HF readily to hand, I’ve hastily run 10m of vertical wire in the back garden to listen to a more contemporary performance of a classic favourite. Happily, 10m has truly sprung into life. This morning I’ve just completed a QSO from home (Wales) to Greece with 5W at both ends. Deep joy. A quick bargain has even brought a Miracle Whip into the ensemble – just experimenting for fun.

But scanning through the bands in general I’m noticing a tendency to transmit at powers of 1kW and above, whatever the band, whatever the conditions. Abrupt reports of 5/9+ are exchanged with a seemingly insatiable appetite to amass as many transient contacts as possible. Then there are the pile-ups. Those ungentlemanly bun-fights where the loudest (or largest bank account and electricity bill) wins. I’m sure that there are whole streets in Palermo where the lights actually dim when DX from Pago Pago is heard on 20m.

We’ll never know if was possible to work Pago Pago with QRP because we were never given the chance. This is on SSB at least. CW operators have a greater appreciation of low power. This is an old argument that will attract equal venom and praise from our electromagnetic community. But I do believe that as technology advances, there is a global drive for efficiency. Low power is in fashion and with solar conditions as they are, we should all be ‘turning the wick down’ a little bit, shouldn’t we?

I do believe that when the sun takes its rest, there is a place for high power, particularly on the more difficult bands. There – you see? I’m not anti-QRO at all. I’m just advocating using (as your exam tells you) the minimum amount of power necessary to maintain a comfortable QSO.

Today I road my bicycle along the Pemigewasset River. It was sparkling. I worked a mobile station in Montana and two QRP stations… one in North Carolina and the other in Ontario.

The old road runs along the river in the Army Corps of Engineers flood control property in Sanbornton. Today I rode about a mile north and stopped at a sunny spot right along the river. It was dazzling.

I threw a line over the branch of a tall pine tree and sat down along the bank. I ran 4 watts with the little HB-1B on 20 meters. To my west was the river, and to the east, a steep hillside that rises nearly 700 feet toward Knox Mountain. I was pretty sure any QSOs would not be coming from Europe and I was right. I heard NT7R mobile in Montana calling on the county hunters frequency and I made a quick contact. Then I went up to the QRP calling frequency and heard Steve W5QC calling CQ from North Carolina. We gave each other 559s. Steve was running an 817 at 2 watts with a telescoping antenna right on the back of the rig! Fantastic. He was camping in North Carolina. As soon as we finished, Gary VE3MPQ called me from Windsor, Ontario. He was very strong at 579 and he gave me a 579 too. Gary was also running an HB-1B at 4 watts. We chatted for more than five minutes with perfect copy both ways.

When I told Gary I was sitting by the edge of the river, he sent, “I’m jealous of your QTH.”

After operating for a bit more than 20 minutes, I headed south back down the road. It’s nice to have the camera to record these wonderful afternoons. But it doesn’t record the sound of crickets, or the touch of a cool breeze on my face as I peddle along the river. It doesn’t catch the smell of early fall or the nostalgia of the first fallen leaves along the trail.

This afternoon I hiked from Shute Hill to Hunkins Pond. Once there, I set up in a farm field with a remarkable view. I worked Finland, Cuba, Russia and Spain.

The hike was about 2 miles cross country on an old logging road. The day was so perfect… about 70 degrees, sunny with a sky as blue you could ever imagine. I started out across from a cemetery on the top of Shute Hill. From there I headed south and crossed a small brook coming from a large beaver pond.

As I gained elevation, I went through a brilliant field of golden rod. The sound of buzzing bees was so loud, I could have been inside the hive itself.

The trail goes through the woods and over a pretty high elevation and down toward Hunkins Pond where it meets an old range road at a gate.

I brought my Kenwood TH-D72 APRS handie with me. Here’s an image of my track captured from http://aprs.fi – I continued down the Old Range Road to the east another quarter of a mile, but I couldn’t hit an APRS digipeater from there so it doesn’t show in the image below.

The range road borders the Swain’s dairy farm. The fields are simply gorgeous and so are the views. I set up my little HB-1B on 20 meters underneath one of the huge maple trees that David Swain taps each year for syrup.

I operated here for about 20 minutes using 4 watts and a half wave wire. I had good luck as you can see from the log.

17 Sep-12 1910  14.015 OH/DJ9DZ CW 599 599   Finland
17 Sep-12 1921  14.013 CO6RD    CW 599 599   Cuba
17 Sep-12 1923  14.033 UA6AES   CW 579 599   Russia
17 Sep-12 1930  14.060 EA2LU    CW 559 579   Spain

The last QSO was certainly the most notable. After working the low end of the band, I went to 14.060, the QRP frequency. Hearing no one, I called CQ. Jorge, EA2LU returned the call. He was also QRP. He was running a K3 at 5W with a 3 element yagi. Jorge and I have had at least 20 QSOs in the last five years, and it’s always a joy to hear him.

After this, I packed up for the return hike. It takes about 45 minutes back to the cemetery. These are prime outdoor days in New Hampshire. The bugs are few, the air is crisp and fragrant, and there’s plenty of incentive with cold weather ahead. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow.