AmateurRadio.com

Like anyone with an ounce of compassion, Olga and I have been concerned about the welfare of the people of Japan. But it is becoming clear, at least to me, that most of the anxiety we initially felt about a nuclear catastrophe occurring in the country has been caused entirely by irresponsible and sensationalist reporting by the western mass media.

Scrolling news headlines screamed about fear of meltdown even while nuclear experts on the same channels were explaining how, due to the design of the reactors, this wasn’t likely. Fear has been generated over increased radiation levels in Tokyo causing many expatriates to flee home, many on the advice of their own western governments. But whilst reporting these increased levels, the news media have not bothered to put them into context, such as how the amount of radiation compares with that received on the flight home to London or on a holiday in Cornwall in the south west of England, a place where the naturally occurring level of radiation is so high that nuclear plants cannot be built there because they would exceed the legal radiation limits before they even started.

Yesterday, apparently, the Italian relief agency did a test for radiation on the roof of the Italian embassy in Tokyo and got a reading which is lower than the usual reading in Rome! The problems with the Fukushima reactors are almost a non-event compared to the tsunami which has displaced half a million people and wiped whole towns off the map. If the rest of the world wants to help Japan it should get a grip and focus on the real disaster.

In my search to try to find out what is really going on I have found a couple of blogs which I have added to my blogroll. The first is A Brasspounder’s Cafe by Leo, JJ8KGZ. He has just begun to write about his experiences during the earthquake last Friday. The second, The Intercultural, is written by a British academic working in Tokyo. The author is not a ham at all, but the blog is very well written. Finally I have added the blog of Atsu, JE1TRV which is called CW4EVER. He hasn’t written much about the disaster and his interests are a bit different than mine but my blog was already in his blogroll which is good enough for me to add his to mine!

Meanwhile we continue to think of the people of northern Japan, and especially the 50 heroes struggling to regain control of the power plants at Fukushima, and hope that things start to get better for the Japanese people very soon.

Over at “the Brasspounders Cafe” blog, Leo, JJ8KGZ, gives a first hand account of what his experiences were of the earthquake that struck Japan recently. I recommend you read his The 3.11 post.

Our thoughts are with the all the people in Japan as they work to recover and deal with the aftermath and challenges resulting from the earthquake and tsunami.  Donations are being sought for that region through the usual organizations, web searches will reveal your national charities or try organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross or  Médecins Sans Frontières. Canadians can use the Canadian Red Cross or see the list at CBC’s website for donations.

Welcome to Handiham World!

Photo: Fukushima nuclear plant near Okuma, Japan before the earthquake and tsunami damage. View shows three cooling towers and one of the reactor buildings with ocean and docks to the right of the picture. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons, from Wikipedia.

The unfolding tragedy in Japan is front and center in our minds this week. I talked with long-time Handiham volunteer Mark Booth, WA0PYN, earlier this week. He had already handled a couple pieces of health & welfare traffic on 20 meters. ARRL is keeping us up to date on its website, so there is no need to go into detail on events that are already being covered at ARRL.org. Rick Palm K1CE, edits the ARRL ARES E-Letter, which refers amateurs to the ARRL.org story “Japan Asks Radio Amateurs to Keep Frequencies Clear As Country Goes into Recovery Mode after Devastating Earthquake”. Information about the operations of the JARL HQ station JA1RL and the list of frequencies are found in that ARRL story. We suggest checking ARRL.org periodically for updates.

Some of our members who check into the daily Handiham net have been asking about Shinji, JA7QHM. I have not heard from him and would appreciate any news if anyone else has contacted him recently. Shinji had regularly checked into the Handiham net, but usually in the summertime when Daylight Saving Time is in effect. This makes the timing a bit easier as he doesn’t have to stay up so late. I called him on Skype this morning but there was no answer or voicemail message.

As long as I mentioned DST, I might as well remind everyone that the Handiham net stays true to local time. That means the difference between GMT and Minnesota time becomes 5 hours instead of 6. Since we are west of Greenwich about 1/4 of the way around the globe, GMT is always ahead of us. By the time the Handiham net is getting underway in the late morning in Minnesota, it is already late afternoon in Europe. You might think that it would be easier to stick to UTC, or “Coordinated Universal Time”, which is the same as what us older guys refer to as “GMT”. We tried that years ago, but the confusion about the net made the “tech support” just about impossible. We gave up on that and returned to keeping the net at local time, which means that it shifts one hour relative to UTC (GMT).

Since today is Wednesday, that means we also have the evening net to think about. We meet once again at 19:30 hours Minnesota time (7:30 PM), which is at 00:30 hours GMT, or just after midnight in Universal Time. If you are in Europe, that makes it slightly easier to check in because you don’t have to stay up quite as late.

All of this reminds me that we are such a worldwide system, email remains the tried and true way to touch base for many of us. It’s a great way to work around all of these time shifting issues. I’m not sure if all of you knew about it, but my son Will, KC0LJL, spent a semester studying in Japan last year and made many friends there. We also had quite a parade of Japanese exchange students though our home over the past year, so obviously we have an interest in keeping track of how they are doing. Facebook has been a great contact tool and, as ARRL points out, internet connectivity has remained good in most of Japan. We are considering a Handiham group under the wing of Courage Center’s Facebook page. Although I prefer email to using Facebook for individual messages, I know that this new media is more and more in the news these days and sometimes general interest stories in ham radio might be better covered in a Facebook forum. ARRL is on Facebook, as are many ARRL and Handiham members. It’s something to think about for sure!

Finally, the Japanese situation includes a nuclear reactor emergency. This is bound to create a new awareness of communications preparedness related to ARES training. Some time back, a local ARES group here trained with other emergency services personnel in a mock nuclear plant scenario. It will be interesting to see what new procedures might come about as we learn more from following the news and response to the Fukushima nuclear plant damage. Communications technology and procedures are always changing to meet new and different challenges.

ARRL members who wish to receive the ARRL ARES E-Letter may manage their mailing lists directly from the member section of ARRL.org.

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Handiham System Manager
[email protected]

Welcome to Handiham World!

Photo: Fukushima nuclear plant near Okuma, Japan before the earthquake and tsunami damage. View shows three cooling towers and one of the reactor buildings with ocean and docks to the right of the picture. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons, from Wikipedia.

The unfolding tragedy in Japan is front and center in our minds this week. I talked with long-time Handiham volunteer Mark Booth, WA0PYN, earlier this week. He had already handled a couple pieces of health & welfare traffic on 20 meters. ARRL is keeping us up to date on its website, so there is no need to go into detail on events that are already being covered at ARRL.org. Rick Palm K1CE, edits the ARRL ARES E-Letter, which refers amateurs to the ARRL.org story “Japan Asks Radio Amateurs to Keep Frequencies Clear As Country Goes into Recovery Mode after Devastating Earthquake”. Information about the operations of the JARL HQ station JA1RL and the list of frequencies are found in that ARRL story. We suggest checking ARRL.org periodically for updates.

Some of our members who check into the daily Handiham net have been asking about Shinji, JA7QHM. I have not heard from him and would appreciate any news if anyone else has contacted him recently. Shinji had regularly checked into the Handiham net, but usually in the summertime when Daylight Saving Time is in effect. This makes the timing a bit easier as he doesn’t have to stay up so late. I called him on Skype this morning but there was no answer or voicemail message.

As long as I mentioned DST, I might as well remind everyone that the Handiham net stays true to local time. That means the difference between GMT and Minnesota time becomes 5 hours instead of 6. Since we are west of Greenwich about 1/4 of the way around the globe, GMT is always ahead of us. By the time the Handiham net is getting underway in the late morning in Minnesota, it is already late afternoon in Europe. You might think that it would be easier to stick to UTC, or “Coordinated Universal Time”, which is the same as what us older guys refer to as “GMT”. We tried that years ago, but the confusion about the net made the “tech support” just about impossible. We gave up on that and returned to keeping the net at local time, which means that it shifts one hour relative to UTC (GMT).

Since today is Wednesday, that means we also have the evening net to think about. We meet once again at 19:30 hours Minnesota time (7:30 PM), which is at 00:30 hours GMT, or just after midnight in Universal Time. If you are in Europe, that makes it slightly easier to check in because you don’t have to stay up quite as late.

All of this reminds me that we are such a worldwide system, email remains the tried and true way to touch base for many of us. It’s a great way to work around all of these time shifting issues. I’m not sure if all of you knew about it, but my son Will, KC0LJL, spent a semester studying in Japan last year and made many friends there. We also had quite a parade of Japanese exchange students though our home over the past year, so obviously we have an interest in keeping track of how they are doing. Facebook has been a great contact tool and, as ARRL points out, internet connectivity has remained good in most of Japan. We are considering a Handiham group under the wing of Courage Center’s Facebook page. Although I prefer email to using Facebook for individual messages, I know that this new media is more and more in the news these days and sometimes general interest stories in ham radio might be better covered in a Facebook forum. ARRL is on Facebook, as are many ARRL and Handiham members. It’s something to think about for sure!

Finally, the Japanese situation includes a nuclear reactor emergency. This is bound to create a new awareness of communications preparedness related to ARES training. Some time back, a local ARES group here trained with other emergency services personnel in a mock nuclear plant scenario. It will be interesting to see what new procedures might come about as we learn more from following the news and response to the Fukushima nuclear plant damage. Communications technology and procedures are always changing to meet new and different challenges.

ARRL members who wish to receive the ARRL ARES E-Letter may manage their mailing lists directly from the member section of ARRL.org.

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA Handiham System Manager [email protected]

Depending on the type of rig you’re working with, interference from antennas or the AC line are likely degrading signal strength. While U.S. and international Hams face different interference challenges based on their hardware, man-made noise, the electrical grid and more, I wanted to share my experience using a piece of power management equipment typically suited for high-end audio gear.  In addition to being a UK-based operator, I’m also an “audiophile,” which led to this experiment.

Recently, I decided to try a power management device designed to provide, component level filtering and protection to any AV system, on my HF transceiver, a top of the range Japan Radio Company JST-245 just to see what effect it had on the noise floor which has been increasing bit by bit every year.

Suffice to say the product lowered the noise floor from a constant S4 to an acceptable S1-S2 on the rigs meter. I was amazed and replaced the standard JRC kettle IEC several times with and without the product in line, and the same results came back every time when the piece was in the chain. My experiment was on 28.535 MHz where I normally work DX on the 10 meters.

These measurements show how dirty the mains are (at least in the UK) since you could actually see the reduction on the rigs meter. It’s worth noting that my AC power is fed through overhead lines, and not underground as with many modern homes, which likely adds interference. But with many UK and international hams lamenting the rising levels of QRM, in my experience, electrical main noise is the biggest culprit.

From what I understand, interference in the U.S. and internationally is driven by the antenna side of the receivers and not through the AC side. I also understand that a high percentage of ham radio transceivers used by hams worldwide have external DC power supplies that are usually well filtered, and wouldn’t require an external AC line filter since they feed the radios directly with 12 -14 volts DC. However, based on this, I’d say any international ham operator with an internal AC power supply (like mine) could benefit from an external power filter.

I know many new radios feature advanced DSP filtering/processing, but hearing the difference this product made inspired me to share my experience. One last cool thing is that the power unit also acts as a under/overvoltage protector which adds a layer of safety while protecting expensive investments from power surges, sags and spikes.

Now, to find a solution for filtering the RF signal before it reaches the radio antenna.

Several people seem to have found what I have written about the Albrecht AE2900AFS a.k.a. Dragon SS-301 and various other names useful. Now here’s a chance for owners of those radios to help me.

The radio came without a charger. I haven’t even seen one advertised for sale. No problem – I can make one. But I have no idea what the charging voltage should be. The manual is no help whatever. If you apply 12V or even 13.8V DC no current is taken – hardly surprising as that is not a high enough voltage to charge nine NiMH cells which probably have some reverse polarity protection in series with them.

Is the charger a regulated or unregulated wall-wart and what is the voltage and current rating?