AmateurRadio.com

  This coming weekend, October 12, 13 and 14 the ARRL National Convention at Pacificon will take place in Santa Clara, California.  The organizers of the 2012 Pacificon event have worked hard to make this years event the best ever.

You’ll find all the usual activities you expect to see and hear at these types of events including top-notch forums, events, vendors and even an astronaut.  How cool is that? 

I’m especially excited and honored to be a part of a special Friday evening event titled “Pacificon Night of New Media Elmers”.   This event brings together some of the most beloved podcasters in the world of amateur radio in what I believe is the first event of its kind. 

I will join Randy Hall K7AGE, Chris Matthieu N7ICE and Gordon “Gordo” West WB6NOA through a Skype connection from Colorado for this very special night.

New Media is sort of the all encompassing term to describe podcasting (both audio and video) and blogging.  I’m truly honored to share the ranks with dozens of audio and video podcasters and hundreds of bloggers who frequently write and record audio and video all in an effort to help Elmer and promote the hobby and service of amateur radio.

I’m sure Randy, Chris, Gordo and myself are not strangers to you.  But perhaps if you are new to the hobby, a very brief introduction might be in order.

Randy Hall K7AGE resides in Grass Valley, CA and has been creating videos for YouTube since 2006.  His most popular video content has been his complete instructional videos on the digital mode PSK-31 and how to work the amateur radio satellites.   It was Randy’s YouTube video series on PSK-31 which inspired me to upgrade from technician to general so that I could use this wonderful digital mode.

Chris Matthieu N7ICE resides in Phoenix, AZ and is the founder of the first amateur radio social network and very popular 73s.com.  Chris also creates instructional videos on his HamBrief.tv website.   Chris has a level of enthusiasm and excitement in everything he does which is extremely contagious. 

Gordon “Gordo” West WB6NOA resides in Costa Mesa, CA and has helped many get their start in amateur radio through his license study materials.  Gordo also appears each week as co-host in the popular Ham Nation video podcast.

Jerry Taylor KD0BIK – Yep…that’s me!  Realizing I had a face for radio, I have mostly stuck to an audio only format for my Practical Amateur Radio Podcast which I launched in 2008.  I do from time to time post supplemental video material on my YouTube channel.  Between the audio podcast and video content, I’ve created over 100 audio and video episodes in the past 4 years all in an effort to help entertain, encourage, educate and inspire others.

I’m told the “Pacificon Night of New Media Elmers” event will be recorded and just as soon as all the post production work can be completed and the finished product uploaded, I’ll be certain to pass along how you can watch this special presentation.

For now, please watch the promotional video below.

Watch this video on YouTube.

 

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. He is the host of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Contact him at [email protected].

10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 10 October 2012

A lot more short-skip propagation today, but not much DX.

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

Last year my employer gave me one of those opportunities that are hard to turn down.  After completing 9 years of distance learning to get my degree and masters they offered me the chance to do another masters. Oh dear. Nice but not more study. Trouble is, this kind of thing takes up a lot of your time.

So it’s going to be another 8 or 9 months of intense study and assignments interspersed with family, cycle training, work and ham radio. I still plan on optimising my Cobwebb antenna, setting up the QRP QRSS/WSPR beacon and attempting to get on air. By the end of this I should either have a degree in time management or failed in everything.

On the bright side I should be out of the books in time for next years Es season at the very least.

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].

The wire from my Inverted L End Fed Zepp met its doom this past August..  I went outside after a particularly bad evening of thunderstorms to find wire hanging down on the back porch and the other end hanging down the mast that was supporting the far end.  The gusty winds caused it to fall apart somewhere in the middle.

I didn’t use it much as I could never get a decent match on the antenna tuner.  For whatever reason, perhaps the truly random length of it and the lack of a decent counterpoise, it always gave my auto tuner fits and starts.

This evening (and for the past few evenings) I was following a discussion on W3EDP antennas on the Polar Bear QRP Ops mailing list.  I did a lil’ Googlin’ and came up with this:

http://www.qsl.net/w5rin/Projects/Antennas/ae5vv/W3EDPAntenna.pdf

I can (I think) definitely fit a 67″ hunk of wire along the run that was occupied by my ill fated EFZ.  According to the .pdf, that should make operations on 80 Meters and up possible.  However, I would really like to find a way to squeeze an 85″ piece of wire, in order to make operations possible on 160 Meters, too.  I know, not nearly an ideal antler for 160 – but something is better than nothing (which is what I have right now).

I have the ladder line and I have a heavy duty 4:1 balun that my friend Bob W3BBO was not using and sent me.  I have the wire and the coax is still there. I just need to cobble one of these together and get it up before the weather really turns nasty for the winter.

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].

10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 9 October 2012

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

The last few weeks here have been a couple of busy ones. As most of you know who read my blog the Elecraft KX3 arrived the other week. I have spent time putting the rig together as in good QRP spirit I ordered the kit and not the assembled unit. The assembly went very well....there were some bumps  I did encounter along the way. I made a 4 part video series giving updates of the KX3 assembly. This was another project that has kept me very busy and  keeping me away from the blog. Recording the video was the easy part the editing and getting it ready for the blog and YouTube was a long and drawn out process. The video series is very close to completion and it's really my first video series I have had to edit and play with so it's a little rough around the edges. I am planning to have the finished product up on my blog and YouTube this week.....well that is the plan anyway. Then there is the KX3 and my iMac computer...a new adventure for me in the Mac world. I ordered and paid for Macloggerdx, sure there are free programs out there but I opted to splurge for Macloggerdx.  This was but another learning curve for me, I have always used Windows for my rig control, logging and contesting so this is a new horizon for me. I have been "Macing" this week as well trying to get the KX3 to communicate with my Mac software (all is well in that dept now) also getting used to the Macloggerdx program. I am by far not a Mac geek at this point but I have been able to understand and use the KX3 in harmony with Mac!!! So with all this "stuff " that was going on in the shack I have not as of yet made one single contact on my new KX3!!!! Having said that I have not made any contacts with any of my rigs in the shack. I have been reading of band conditions that are up and down, I have heard of great 10m openings and then solar storms that has left a lot of the bands silent.
So this week my goals are....
1. To get the KX3 video up on my blog and YouTube.
2. Learn some more about the Macloggerdx program.
3. Go to the gym three times this week....(non related ham goal)
4. Oh and finally get on a radio and make contacts!!!!
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know how much I love Amateur Radio. Two of my “passions within a passion”  are operating QRP and taking QRP to the great outdoors and operating portable.

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