AmateurRadio.com

Some post-Dayton additions have been made to the RadioKitGuide.  Rather than continue to paste the entire thing here I will link to it and list the changes only.

Changes  in Hendricks (2 new kits!), YouKits (1 new kit!), TenTec (New QRP rig coming soon), Four States QRP (1 kit retired, 1 coming soon), CR Kits (1 new kit!).

You can see the guide here:  RadioKitGuide.com

Neil Goldstein, W2NDG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New York, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Some good planning on Sarah’s part yielded a bridal shower for her sister scheduled on the same weekend as the Hamvention.  Huge win.

1. Speaking of huge wins, there was no sewer back up this year.
2. Like the last time I attended in 2011, I’m pleased to see more younger (than me) hams in attendance.  A high-ranking ARRL official noted to me the “energy and enthusiasm” present in this generation of young hams that was not present 15 years ago (this year marks my 20th year as a ham, but I didn’t mention that).  Attendance was still thin compared to my first visit in the mid 1990s.
3. Deals.  I stimulated the economy by purchasing a small CDE rotor for my VHF activities, an HP server power supply for a future solid state amplifier project (>55 amps at 50 volts), a couple of 900-MHz antennas, and some miscellaneous small parts.  I sold some junk to partially cover that expense.
4. People.  Ran into a lot of old friends and made some new ones.  This is really why I go to Dayton, well, that and the junk.  K8MFO tells me there are Bureau cards coming.  W8AV has 930s for me to work on.  W2NAF had people for me to meet.  AD8P was able to win himself a pizza from an unnamed W5 in the “SB-200 challenge” of correctly differentiating an SB-200 from an SB-220 at a distance of 20 feet—a tribute to the W5′s failure to distinguish the two until after the sale last year.
5. W2NAF has written an article about our trip to Adak (NA-039) that was published in the June 2013 issue of CQ.  It has a lot more background detail than what I wrote on the blog.  Check it out.  I picked up a copy of that and the May 2013 issue which has the 2012 CQ WW CW results in it.
6. Products.  I just don’t care that much about new products.  The Ten-Tec Rebel that several people have already discussed is a cool idea.  I know that Ten-Tec took some flak for not opening up the Orion SDR core when they produced it.  But, let’s be realistic, people.  Hams would have bricked those suckers in a heartbeat.  A sandbox “open source” radio is a step in the right direction, but I question what a ham can really customize that matters without screwing it up.  Maybe I’m just not visionary enough.  Almost 10 years ago now, I interned in the R&D lab at a large consumer appliance manufacturer as an undergraduate my supervisor was always saying, “How can we make this attractive to the [hardware] hackers?”
7. Guns.  The Hamvention web site was very specific that the Trotwood Police Department would be actively enforcing Hara Arena as a non-gun zone.  Seriously?  It’s a ham radio convention.  Bill Goodman is there at least once a month the rest of the year.  Do hams bring their go-kits to gun shows?  They must.  Inquiring minds want to know…
8. Suites.  I did not do the contester suite thing.  Was thinking of going on Friday night but fell asleep in my in-laws’ living room.  This is a recurring problem when I visit so no one bothered to awaken me.

Was the trip worthwhile?  I think so.

Ethan Miller, K8GU, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Maryland, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Would you like to win a Beaglebone Black? Of course you would! Check out our Contests page for details on how to enter to win. No purchase is required. Good luck!

Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].

I found this interesting:

And this is  from the InfoAge Webpage concerning the project:

“In late 1945, in the lull that followed the Japanese surrender, a number of scientists at Fort Monmouth’s Camp Evans began working on a way to pierce the earth’s ionosphere with radio waves, a feat that had been tried just before the war without success and which many thought impossible.

Project Diana, named for the goddess of the moon, was designed to prove that it could be done. Begun on an almost unofficial level by Evans radar scientists awaiting their Army discharge, the project was headed by Lt. Col. John DeWitt. Operating with only a handful of full-time researchers, the project scientists greatly modified a SCR-271 bedspring radar antenna, set it up in the northeast corner of Camp Evans, jacked up the power, and aimed it at the rising moon on the morning of January 10, 1946. A series of radar signals were broadcast, and in each case, the echo was picked up in exactly 2.5 seconds, the time it takes light to travel to the moon and back.

The importance of Project Diana cannot be overestimated. The discovery that the ionosphere could be pierced, and that communication was possible between earth and the universe beyond, opened the possibility of space exploration that previously had been only a dream in adventure films and comic books. Just as Hiroshima opened the nuclear age in 1945, Project Diana opened the space age in January of 1946. It would take another decade before the first satellites were launched into space, soon followed by manned rockets, but Diana paved the way for all those achievements.

It even initiated the tradition of naming such projects after ancient Greek and Roman gods, like Mercury and Apollo. For Fort Monmouth Project Diana was a pivotal event that built on World War II expertise, but pointed the way to the future.”

Somehow, I have got to fit this location into either an upcoming QRPTTF or perhaps a cool theme for the 2014 Skeeter Hunt ……………

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very east!

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

I've been slowly getting back into backpacking shape. Not only physically, (I recently had my annual physical and lasted 16 minutes on the treadmill test(faster and steeper every 3minutes), not bad for an old man), but also getting my equipment, both radio and packs, etc.., updated. So it was time for a real test to see what works and what doesn't as well as what I forgot to include.

So a few days ago, my son AB5EB, invited me on a backpacking trip with he and my two grandsons, Reid, KF5GYE and Boogie, KF5GYD, ages, 10 and 12 respectively. Well, of course I could go. Our destination was Lost Maples State Park in the Texas Hill Country. What a beautiful spot. We would hike 4 miles to one of the high points in the park, ~2,300 ft. elev., making a 550 vertical climb and camp for the night. The last 330 feet of the climb come in the last quarter  mile of  the hike, so it's pretty pedestrian until that point.

From the backpacking perspective, I planned pretty well. A lightweight MSR Nook tent served me well, however, my old 20 degree sleeping bag and Thermarest  pad need updating, lighter versions exist. My titanium alcohol cook stove and titanium cook pot worked great. One omission, I didn't bring any thing to sit on, so I need to get a Thermarest chair set-up that allows me to make a seat out of my sleeping pad, sitting on the ground gets old. I used to have one, but I have no idea where it is. One lesson that I haved learned when carrying everything you need on your back is to dual purpose your gear as much as you can. An example, for eating, I carry a plastic spoon and a coffee cup. If  I don't eat the backpacking meal from the bag, I use the coffee cup to eat from and I have very little clean up. While I didn't bring a trekking pole on this trip, I could easily  use one to mount the 13' pole on, after I figure out the adaptor issue. A trekking pole also works well as a base for the Buddi-stick vertical.

I would also say the radio set up worked as well. My main goal was to test the new 13' telescoping pole that I bought from SOTA Beams. I like this pole because it is much easier to pack in a backpack and it fits easily into a suitcase. Of course it's only 13'. I set it up on the $10 tripod that I use with my AlexLoop, that gives it another 4 feet or so. Both the telescoping pole and small tripod slide easily into the slot behind the sidepockets on most backpacks.


Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Episode #104 Audio (Listen Now):

Introduction:

• Pete is back on the show along with Russ

Announcements:

• Hamvention 2013 is happening May 17-19, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. LHS reached the donation goal and thus will be in the Hara Arena. Thanks to Sierra Radio Systems for their incredibly generous donation that put us over the top. We will be talking with George from Sierra and Nick from Pignology in Episode #105. It’s a show you DO NOT want to miss.
• Bill, KA9WKA, has announced that he is also going to be on hiatus for a while. Therefore, we now have an opening for a show notes taker and keeper of all knowledge! If you’d like to be that person, please send us an e-mail or get in touch with Pete or I in the IRC channel.
• Website that lists known Linux Events.
• http://answers.oreilly.com/topic/3507-list-of-known-linuxfest-events/

Topics:

• We have a pre-recorded interview with Steve Nichols, G0KYA (also AB8ZV) the  Author of STEALTH ANTENNAS an RSGB publication.
  • http://g0kya.blogspot.com
  • http://www.infotechcomms.co.uk
  • HF Propagation Report Podcast
  • Factors in HF Propagation
    • Sunspots
    • Flares
    • CMEs
• Propagations changes over daily and monthly bases
• Solar Cycle 24 and its progress
• HF Propagation programs
  • HamCap (Windows 32-bit)http://www.dxatlas.com/hamcap
  • VOACAP (Linux, MacOS X, Windows)http://www.voacap.com

Feedback:

• Topic for short discussion: How is Ham Radio Free and Open Source?
  • http://www.linuxjournal.com/ham  (2010)
  • http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/open-source-ham-%E2%80%93-free-range-chicken (2009)
  • Both articles are more of a teaser for Linux Journal’s HAM section.
  • Pro arguments:
    • Home-brew your own
    • Communications open worldwide
    • No need for outside infrastructure
  • Con arguments:
    • Need a license from “The Man” to operate
    • Many restrictions (band plan, op procedures, etc)
    • Not Free, as in beer (license, equip, etc)
  • Therefore, is it the ‘YANG’ to Linux’s ‘YING’?

Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].

It rained ALL day, for the most part.  Not really heavy, but a good soaking Spring rain.  Just what I need to get the grass growing again after I mowed it Friday night!

I started the day with a nice rag chew with Joe W2KJ. I always get a kick out of working Joe.  He’s an outstanding QRPer; and it’s always a pleasure to chat with him. But I really get kick out of the W2KJ to W2LJ thing – our calls being one letter apart.

This afternoon, I worked VQ975FOC/MM. If he was in the Chagos Islands, where the call sign is from, that would have been quite the QSO at 9,366 miles away.  But as he was signing /MM, Jim could have been just about anywhere on the face of the earth. Shortly after working him, I got a tweet from Chris KQ2RP. He was intermittently trying to work the same station in between shack cleaning chores. When Chris heard the VQ9 come back to me, he redoubled his efforts and got him in his log, also.  You know what they say, “QRPers of a feather, flock together.”  Cool, Chris, I’m glad you worked him too.

I worked VP5/W5CW down in the Turks and Caicos on 20 Meters.  I have worked Dave several times over the years in the big DX contests. I guess he’s down in the islands getting ready for the CQ WPX Contest, which is next weekend.

I also got a new DXCC entity in the QRP log today.  By working CP4BT, I worked Bolivia with QRP for the first time.  I’ve worked that country several times over the years, but it was always QRO in the past.  This time it was with 5 Watts.  I am going to have to go through my log and see how many that brings me up to via QRP.  I think it might be somewhere close to 130 now.

I finished the day by giving out points in the monthly Run For The Bacon.  It seems pickings were sparse this month; and that might be no surprise. I am willing to wager that a lot of my fellow piggies were returning home from Dayton today and were just too tired to hunt for bacon!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].