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Media Hit: NPR reports that ham radio is experiencing a surprising and healthy growth

Image: Phil Temples, K9HI, operates on the HF bands at a recent Handiham Radio Camp session.

We consider any mention of ham radio on a network like National Public Radio to be a real media hit! NPR is reporting that far from being a fading 20th-Century technology, ham radio is instead experiencing healthy growth. The story appeared on the NPR network’s “All Things Considered” afternoon show on April 5, 2010.

There was some interesting listener feedback today – we heard one fellow who took the story to task for not including a mention of amateur radio’s role in emergency communications. You will also find many interesting comments on the NPR website.

HF band conditions remain generally poor as solar wind buffets ionosphere

Image: SOHO solar view as of 7 April 2010.

Spaceweather.com reported last Monday that a solar wind struck Earth’s magnetosphere at approximately 0800 UT and sparked the strongest geomagnetic storm of the year. The event registered 7 on the K index scale.

The ham radio HF bands remain in exceptionally poor shape, with widespread outages. Aurora activity is continuing. Strange whistling sounds are being heard on the HF bands, and usually reliable net frequencies have been nearly wiped out by poor propagation and noise.

One Handiham Remote Base user reported that the station wasn’t working right – he could only hear noise. Of course not all of us have experienced the effects of a widespread solar wind and the resulting poor HF conditions. This morning the Remote Base was checked on 75m, and stations are being heard somewhat better than they were in the past two days.

Today’s Spaceweather.com reports: “NOAA forecasters estimate a 45% chance of geomagnetic activity and a 10% chance of severe geomagnetic storms around the Arctic Circle during the next 24 hours. The source of this activity is a fast and gusty solar wind stream that has been blowing around Earth for two days.”

More at: Spaceweather.com.

FCC loses in case regulating Internet service providers

Washington Post: Comcast on Tuesday won a legal challenge against the Federal Communications Commission, in a ruling by a federal court that undermines the agency’s ability to regulate Internet service providers. For more information, visit the Washington Post online.

April Events by N1YXU

As you look through the events page for this month, you will notice there are quite a few activities. I confess my bias in the “Editor’s Pick of the Month” since a good friend of ours is one of thirteen operators who are currently in Iraq. Check out the details, and be sure to listen for them.

Welcome to Spring! Get on the air and have a good month with amateur radio. Until next month….

Regards,

Laurie Meier, N1YXU
[email protected]

Read the Events at handiham.org.

Nets and Emergency Communications Review by WA0TDA

Photo: Patrick Tice, WA0TDA, in his ham radio shack.

Nets & Emergency Communications – second in our series of an operating basics review.

By Patrick Tice
[email protected]

This web outline is based on a PowerPoint presentation that I use to teach these concepts to prospective new hams who have enrolled in the Technician Class course. We are presenting it here because the skills and terms related to nets and emergency communications are so basic to good operating that we can all do with a review. Read the rest on handiham.org, or listen to the audio version.

I went for another stroll up Tallentire Hill this afternoon with the TH-F7E. The FT-817 is tied up running my EchoLink hotspot until I can find something cheap I can dedicate to the task – I have my eye on a pair of PMR446 radios that are modifiable to 70cm.

I took along my DIY 2m rubber duck antenna and a “Black Rod” 2m 5/8 telescopic whip that I recently bought on eBay. In case you are wondering, I use an “HT Saver” SMA to BNC adapter to take the strain of the longer whip. But I am seriously considering using the TH-205E for such outings in future, if I can sort out a battery pack for it, because it has a proper BNC antenna socket and is much better suited to use with a large telescopic whip.

The 2m FM channels were not exactly buzzing with activity but I heard the GB3CS repeater 100 miles away and a GW station (Wales) in QSO. I tried swapping the two antennas for a comparison, but could hear nothing on the rubber duck at all. This surprised me, as the last time I did a comparison there was hardly any difference between it and a quarter wave telescopic, and I didn’t expect the 5/8 to make such a huge difference.

The TH-F7E is multimode on receive, so I took a listen on 2m SSB as well. I heard the GB3NGI Northern Ireland beacon much stronger than I can receive it from here. But I couldn’t hear GB3VHF from South East England at all. I haven’t heard it from home at all recently either, although it is supposed to be back on the air after a move to a new location. I guess the new location isn’t as favourable as the one it has operated from for longer than I have held a ham radio license. GB3VHF was the first amateur 2m signal I ever heard, after building my first 2m receiver, so hearing its call in Morse always causes some nostalgia.

I put out several CQ calls on 145.500 and was eventually called by Bill G3WJH in Seaton, only a few miles away by line of sight. I swapped the antennas again, and he couldn’t hear me at all on the duck. Colin, 2E0XSD then joined us, and then we were called by Richard G0IBE/P on Lord’s Seat (a SOTA and WOTA summit) so we all exchanged reports with him for chaser points. Jim G3ZPD from just south of Cockermouth then called in and worked Richard as well. By that time I was getting a bit chilly as it was a lot colder up there than it was at home, so I came back.

On my return I checked the DIY Duck on my antenna analyzer and found an infinite SWR. I pulled off the whip and the copper wire had fractured just about level with the top of the BNC adapter, which is probably the point that experiences the most bending. I guess 22SWG enamelled copper wire isn’t flexible enough to use for a helical antenna. Back to the drawing board.

XR0Y – Rapa Nui Videoblog – part 2 from SQ8X on Vimeo.

Stan begins laying out the team’s goal and mission for Rapa Nui.

73 from the shack relaxation zone.

Multi Single.

• YU1AAV | 156 CW | 211 SSB | 41 Mults | 10hrs | 45,141 Points [YU CC].

n = 1 score submitted in this category.

Single Operator 3 Band (SO3B) [Morse Code].

• N2WN | 35 Qs | 14 Mults | 1,470 Points [TCG].

n = 1 score submitted in this category.

SO3B [Mixed].

• OR2A (ON7YX) | 230 CW | 174 SSB | 47 Mults | 56,964 Points [RR DX].

n = 1 score submitted in this category.

Single Operator All Band [Morse Code].

• SN3C (SP3ASN) | 768 Qs | 119 Mults | 145,180 Points.
• SP3BJK | 662 Qs | 106 Mults | 92,856 Points.

n = 10 scores submitted in this category.

Contest on!

XR0Y – Rapa Nui 2009 Videoblog – part 1 [ENG] from SQ8X on Vimeo.

Unlike explorers of yesterday, Stan, SQ8X fully comprehends today’s paradigm. He has circumnavigated legacy media channels instead he delivers his narrative to a wide audience beyond that of ham radio. Fundamentally, he is shaping a future for those considering DXpeditions because SQ8X talks about his connecting experience with the local culture in addition to searching out its mysteries.

The Making Of Remarkable.
Ham radio is a subset of his personal experience, and, in broader terms, Stan creates a robust storyline that demonstrates in visual terms, the team connecting with the world using airwaves.

Stan mentioned an important piece in his previous video and it is why SQ8X stands out from the noise.

What Makes Extraordinary.
I paraphrase although I hope the point is understood when Stan mentioned in the previous video, “I did not tune into the station when listening with my Safari II receiver. I was interested instead in the odd tones, strange noises, and irregularities off of the zero beat frequency.”

Additionally, has one taken note of Stan rotating those things that are rotatable, in turn, mimicking the tuning knob of one’s radio? I was thoroughly impressed that SQ8X’s editing team created parallels between nature and technology. It is attention to creative detail mixed with imagination that makes Stan, SQ8X and his cinematographers, a cut above.

Conclusion.
I’m convinced that ham radio has received a gift in the person who is Stan, SQ8X. The kind of gift that only arrives once in a generation.

73 from the shack relaxation zone.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog you’ll probably have observed my comments about the lack of activity on VHF hereabouts. Even though I can raise three 2m repeaters there is next to no activity on any of them. And although there are several active amateurs in West Cumbria most are “over the hill” from me so I never hear them.

Some time ago I thought about setting up an EchoLink node to make it possible to have some contacts on VHF. But when I realized how much trouble I would have to go to in order to get permission for this I went off the idea pretty fast.

My interest in this basic idea was rekindled when I read recently about the D-Star Digital Voice Access Point. Personally I’m not going to be interested in D-Star until the prices of compatible radios come down and you can buy them from other manufacturers than Icom. Besides, I like my little TH-F7E with its wideband AM/FM/SSB/CW receiver and don’t want to change it for one that doesn’t have that facility. But why shouldn’t I set up a very low power EchoLink node for my personal use so I could make some contacts using my TH-F7E hand-held from round and about the house?

I put in an online application for a Notice of Variation (NoV) to my license to run an attended simplex node – which so far hasn’t made any progress. However, fellow blogger Tim G4VXE writing about his experience with the DVAP mentioned that he made some quick enquiries via the RSGB’s ETCC as to the legality of using the DVAP without an NoV and they were not concerned about DVAPs or hotspots as long as there is no third party traffic.

I presume that D-Star, being digital, knows who is calling in to the system so you can set it so only you have access. With EchoLink you can really only have security by obscurity, using low power, a poor antenna and an obscure frequency so that it won’t pick up transmissions from anyone else. I’m not sure if this meets the official standards for not allowing third party traffic, but my enquiry to the ETCC has also gone unanswered (so far.) I got fed up with waiting and decided to go ahead.

I first tried EchoLink many years ago when it first was announced. At the time I had no way to access the system except direct from my computer. After making a few contacts that way I found that talking to hams without using any radio wasn’t very interesting, so I didn’t use it again.

Even though I am only using RF to make the link of a few metres to the radio connected to the computer, because I am using an actual radio it really feels like I am making a radio contact. I have set up the G4ILO-L node so that it doesn’t allow connections from computer-connected users. There may be disadvantages to this and perhaps some will consider it a bit unsociable but I still feel that using amateur radio at each end of the link is an important distinction that differentiates EchoLink from internet chat. I can still join EchoLink conferences and conferences may include directly connected users so talking to people who aren’t using a radio isn’t completely ruled out.

I dare say there are some who will still consider that making contacts in this way isn’t amateur radio. But the fact that my RF is not going directly from my radio to his is of no great importance as far as I am concerned. This isn’t meant to be a way to explore propagation or work DX. It really isn’t much different from using a repeater.

If I find that it is worthwhile keeping my EchoLink node running then it will create a couple of new radio projects to work on. I will need to make a new computer/radio interface and either build or modify a radio that I can dedicate to the link so that the equipment I am currently using for it can be released for other uses.

Because I signed up for EchoLink soon after it was announced I have a coveted low node ID number: 3098. I have swapped this number over to use for the link. The G4ILO-L node is running low power to a leaky dummy load so it can only be used to contact me. If you have access to the EchoLink network by radio, please give me a call. It would be great to talk to you.

There are good things coming up in the world of GNOME and Linux in the Ham Shack has some of the scoop. In this episode we had the good fortune to interview Stormy Peters, the executive director over at the GNOME Foundation. We’d love to tell you all the stuff she told us, but that’s what downloading the episode is all about. We wouldn’t want to spoil any surprises.

We are currently in migration from Hostican to our new hosting, which includes a mix of BlueCows Technical Services and GoDaddy. During this process, some of the Web site features may come and go, but rest assured everything will be back online eventually. I believe most everything is working now except for the OGG feed and I am working on that. It is very important that everyone switch over to the new RSS feeds in your podcatcher of choice. We wouldn’t want you to miss a single episode. Click or hover over the RSS Feed links on the left-hand side of the main Web page for the correct new URLs. And remember, our new e-mail address is info at lhspodcast dot info. That will go to both of us.

Don’t forget about the current contests. Don’t forget to show up at the Texas Linux Fest in April, the Southeast Linux Fest in June and the Ohio Linux Fest in September. Don’t forget to tell 200 of your closest friends about the podcast. Don’t forget to donate to the noise gate fund. And don’t forget to have fun listening to the show!

73,

The LHS Guys