AmateurRadio.com

The initial results on the SDR are good – I’ve used the setup on an internal antenna and it’s received Band II FM stations, my own transmissions on 70, 144 and 432MHz as well as aircraft and various ‘utility’ transmissions around 433MHz.

I’m just awaiting some hardware to arrive so that I can connect the receiver up to the external antennas such as the triband vertical for 50/144/432MHz and see what I can hear.

You may have seen a post indicating that Dave, G4ASR had some problems with his dongle showing up as a different device. Happily that has been resolved – Dave took the IT professional’s approach, deleted all the files, started again and it worked fine. And no, I’m not being sarcastic! Glad it worked – I was feeling guilty that it hadn’t been straightforward.

Great to hear from John, G4BAO today regarding the new beacon which is planned for installation in Northern Ireland to facilitate research into the transatlantic path on 144MHz.

John says, ‘Over in the US, Brian, WA1ZMS, is making the final preparations to ship the beacon transmitter over to Northern Ireland. 

Thanks to the kind donation of antenna parts and clamps from G4CQM at Powabeam Antennas, beacon keeper, Gordon GI6ATZ, is in the process of building the antenna system for the beacon, and installing the emergency shutdown system. 

We are aiming to have the beacon up and running before the year end.’

Band conditions may have been in the toilet; but at least the scenery was good!

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

My trip to the top of Mount Prospect was a semi-bust.  Band conditions were not to be. Steve NU7T sent me this on the Polar Bear e-mail reflector:

Sorry Larry Bear,

ALERT: X-Ray Flux exceeded M5
Threshold Reached: 2012 Jul 12 1626 UTC
NOAA Scale: R2 – Moderate
Potential Impacts: Area of impact centered on sub-solar point on the sunlit side of Earth. Extent of blackout of HF (high frequency) radio communication dependent upon current X-ray Flux intensity. For real-time information on affected area and expected duration ( 1800 z ).Grrrrrr
15m – 6dB attenuation Grrrrrr
20m – 3 dB attenuation Grrr
40m – 17 dB attentuation Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Steve, NU7T PB #300

And Steve was 10000000% correct – the entire time I was at the summit, I heard one, watery and warbly signal on 20 Meters.  All my CQing went for naught.  I was heard on the Reverse Beacon Network, however (by at least one skimmer):

WZ7I	W2LJ	14061.0	CQ [LoTW]	7 dB	20 wpm	1629z 12 Jul

  
Oh well, Maybe things will pick up for tomorrow.  In any event, I’ll post some of the photos I took, later tonight.

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

Is the plan for tomorrow.  It doesn’t qualify as a SOTA Summit, but as per the brochure, the views are supposed to be breathtaking

There’s supposedly a picnic area at the summit, so maybe I can toss the EFHW up a tree and make some contacts.

I’ll take my phone alone and will hopefully will be able to spot myself on QRPSPOTS.

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

As a new ham (got my Technician and General last February), I am excited to try out all areas of amateur radio. Being eighteen years old, I’m also willing to schlep my rig wherever I can. This past week, I went on an Alaskan cruise with Disney Cruise Lines and I decided to try HF while on the Disney Wonder.

I began investigating cruise ship operation via Google, where I found mixed reports of success. It seems a lot of cruise lines don’t allow ham radio use onboard. I found a story from one ham who had success with Disney, so I started by simply sending an email to Disney Cruise Lines. I wrote:

I am a licensed amateur radio operator and I was wondering if I am allowed to operate my radio while I am on my cruise this summer in Alaska. I have heard other people have gotten permission in the past to do this, I would really appreciate the opportunity to. Thank you for your time!

A day or two later, I got a response stating that “Ham Radios may be brought onboard; however, there is no guarantee that they will function.” A little vague, the reply was enough to make me to continue on in my ventures.

Disney’s ships are registered in the Bahamas so I needed a reciprocal license to operate. Of course, I did all of this research way too late. However, I emailed the Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority, which is the responsible party for amateur radio in the Bahamas. To my surprise, they were extremely helpful and said while it using takes nearly a month, if I scanned and emailed the necessary forms, a copy of my passport ID page, a copy of my FCC license, and pay the $35 fee via credit card, I would get approved in time. Still a little unsure, I proceeded.

I still needed permission from the master of the ship, and I thought it would be impossible to prior to the cruise. I decided to write a nice letter and send it to the Disney Cruise offices in Florida as well as the port in Seattle where the cruise left from. On both, I simply addressed it to the “Disney Wonder Captain.”

I was pleased to receive a nice reply from the Florida offices on an official letterhead stating it was no problem as long as I did not cause any interference. About a week later, I received an email from the captain’s assistant stating Captain Thord Haugen “enjoyed reading my letter and has no problem with you operating your radio onboard.”

Now I was really excited! My license officially came via email the day before I left. I packed up my Yaesu FT450D, MFJ manual tuner (thanks to N8PZD, Clark for lending it to me!), and a 15m, 20m, and 40m Hamstick. Once onboard, I set up, mounted the Hamstick on my veranda and grounded it to the ship’s hull. Stupidly, I didn’t take any photos of my setup, but it was pretty simple. I fired up the rig and made a QSO as we left Seattle.

However, that is where my HF experience ended. I turned off the rig, came back later and found my radio wasn’t working. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything else on HF. Right now, my rig is on its way back to Yaesu for a warranty claim. All wasn’t lost as I brought my FT60R too and listened to all the port operations. I also worked 2 meters FM in various ports including Skagway, Alaska where the mountain repeater system got me to Whitehorse, Canada (about 100 miles).

In the end, it was quite an experience – both Alaska itself and ham radio. While I was really disappointed my rig died after all the pre-cruise work, I hope some others can benefit from my experience. Plus, I’m sure I’ll try it on another cruise in the future. It was pretty cool to be able to say “Maritime Mobile aboard the Disney Wonder Cruise Ship off the coast of Alaska” and I would recommend at least investigating if you are going on a cruise. I’ve heard Holland America has a written policy allowing ham radios, and they are probably your best bet if looking for a “ham radio cruise.” If you have any questions, feel free to email me.  73!

Tony, KD8RTT

You probably already heard about the terrible wildfire on the west side of Colorado Springs. The fire burned 18,247 acres, destroyed 346 homes and killed 2 people.

Here’s a map of how the fire progressed over time.

18,247 acres is a little more than 28 square miles of area burned. Think about a fire that consumes 28 square miles in your back yard. Pretty sobering.

Here’s a time lapse video that shows the fire from a distance.

The Denver Post has some of the best photos of the fire as it burned structures on the northwest side of Colorado Springs.

There were two major ham radio activities (that I am aware of) in response to the fire:

The RACES team (Special Communications Unit) attached to the El Paso County Sheriff’s office staffed the Emergency Operations Center in Colorado Springs. I did help out for one 12-hour shift, a relatively minor role.

Pikes Peak ARES  supported the Red Cross, who operated the emergency shelters for ~32,000 people that had to evacuate their homes. The Pueblo newspaper ran an article about this.

The real heroes are the firefighters that battled the blaze, especially on that terrible Tuesday night when so many houses were lost. Those guys and gals are awesome!

- 73, Bob K0NR