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Look out Hontoon Island the Polar Bear of Florida is coming your way! Good Friday, 2 April 2010 Polar Bear QRP member #173 (aka K4UPG) will attempt to qualify Hontoon Island as a US Island on the Air by making 25 contacts including at least 2 DXCC entities.

Activity will start about 1400Z after the ferry ride over to the island. Plan is to use special callsign K4T for recognition.

Look for us on 30m cw (10.106-10.116 MHz) and 20m cw 14.050-14.070 MHz and on the hour we will check 15m 21.060-21.070. If anyone shows up to assist, will also attempt ssb on 14.250-14.260 MHz island corridor. All ops will be QRP so we’ll need your help to pull us out!

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If things go well, our Central Florida QRP group may consider this as a new operating site! If you are in the area, come on and check it out with us.

Thanks to Florida State Parks for the fine pictures!

P.S. We did it 4.2.2010!  Over 30 QSO’s update coming! I am TIRED!

Kelly McClelland, K4UPG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Florida, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

A QRP record was shattered this week when Bob Goblosovits, W9RJX, after making a contact on 40 meters with a homebrew QRP rig in a tunafish can using 1 watt into a dipole, exclaimed on the QRP-L reflector "QRP really works!".  This was the 239th time Goblosovits made the claim on a reflector, beating out Algernon Smith, WB2ACH, who previously held the record at 238 reflector messages in his ham career.  Smith unfortunately passed away last year after succumbing to a heart attack at his workbench while soldering a surface mount kit rig.

It's expected that Goblosovits will be nominated and inducted into the QRP Hall of Fame this year at Dayton.
Anthony Good, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Pennsylvania, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Last year, through the efforts of a fried of mine, I was able to talk to Red Hot Chili Pepper's lead vocalist, Anthony Kiedis, and bassist Mike Balzary (better known as Flea) about Amateur Radio. It hasn't been reported often, but both Anthony and Flea are hams and in between tours operate out of their California homes. We stopped over at Flea's house. In the driveway he points out his self-supporting 200 foot tower.

"I've got it loaded up for 160...the whole tower. Radials all over the [expletive] place. Damn thing was hell to put up!" he said.

Kiedis and Flea laugh as we walk inside. Flea's living room filled with old tube gear of every kind and parts are lying everywhere on tables, shelves and the floor. Amid the mess, various Hallicrafters, Collins, and Drake rigs can be seen, though Flea's affinity for Johnson equipment is obvious as it dominates the landscape.

"I love AM. A bunch of wankers told me AM was old and too wide on the band. I told 'em to [expletive] off and I went to AM and never looked back."

Flea takes us into a back room. A four bay Gates AM transmitter graces the room which is amazingly spotless in contrast with the previous room. Flea flips on a huge breaker mounted to a piece of plywood on the wall and the beast comes to life and a deafening roar of fans and tube air blowers fills the room. We go into the next room which is soundproof and contains his operating position with a mixing board and a high-end Heil microphone on a boom.

Kiedes explains that he currently doesn't have a station, though he often comes over to Flea's shack on the weekend and operates while having a few beers and grilling steaks.

(This is a brief excerpt from my upcoming book, Unknown and Undercover Amateur Radio, due out in September from Simon & Shuster.. )
Anthony Good, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Pennsylvania, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Today Pope Benedict XVI announced in Rome that Morse code proficiency has been added to the requirements for being considered for recognition as a saint.  In a brief statement the Pope said:

"It has been known throughout the ages that knowing and using Morse code makes one a more whole person.  We today officially make it a requirement of canonization....one must know the code to be recognized a saint."

The move was applauded by millions in countries throughout the world.  "This should keep the quality of saints high" noted one blogger in France.  One person interviewed in Times Square in New York City exclaimed "It's about time.  This should keep the riff-raff out of sainthood.  Several hundred years ago you had to perform real miracles to become a saint.  Today you can just feed a few million starving people and, like, instantly you're considered for sainthood.  Having to know Morse code will finally raise the standards back to where they need to be."
Anthony Good, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Pennsylvania, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

A new posting by Dan KB6NU alerted me to the fact that eHam.net is now allowing users to rate ham radio blogs. I followed his link, selected the Blogs category and found that of all the blogs currently rated, G4ILO’s Blog is (or was, when I went there just now) the only blog that had a rating of five stars! I am amazed, humbled and proud, even if only two people had actually contributed to the rating. 🙂

If you would like to help keep my blog at the top of the table, please pop over to eHam, click on the stars next to G4ILO’s blog and add your rating and comment. Thanks!

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

With the growing popularity of ham radio simulations like QSONet and HamSphere, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. According to an announcement just out on the IARU website, from today contacts made using these VOIP systems are now officially amateur radio contacts and can count towards amateur radio awards.

The announcement says: “There is an ever increasing use of computer and internet technology to facilitate the making of contacts between amateur radio operators. For many years use of the DX Cluster has been permitted to locate DX contacts to work and many operators now use internet sites to arrange skeds for needed contacts. We also see the development of new digital modes that can make possible contacts between stations that neither side can even hear. Permitting the use of VOIP modes to make contacts is simply an extension of the use of this facilitating technology, by removing the unreliability caused by the behaviour of the ionosphere. This move will also be welcomed by the many radio amateurs living in antenna-restricted locations who are no longer able to be active on what have traditionally been regarded as ‘the airwaves’.”

Addressing the criticism that no radio is actually used when making contacts via QSONet or HamSphere, the statement says: “Many amateur operators nowadays use laptop computers which are connected to the internet via a wi-fi router. This does, of course, involve the use of radio. Initially, therefore, only contacts made using a laptop with a wireless connection will be allowed to count under this new ruling. The frequency should be logged as 2.4GHz. This restriction will be reviewed at a later date.”

More information on this development will apparently be posted on the site at midday today.

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

SWITZERLAND - The ITU has officially declared Texas a new DXCC entity.  Texas's amateur radio prefix will be TX, which is currently allocated to France.  French authorities have agreed to allow France to be annexed with Texas rather than giving up the prefix and angering French amateurs.

The United States FCC will no longer issue amateur radio licenses to Texans; all licenses will be issued out of the Republic of Texas government office in Houston.  Texan amateur radio licenses will automatically include a concealed weapons permit and VIP parking permits for Chilis restaurants.

Texas, as part of the United States secession agreement, will also assume responsibility for the portion of national debt incurred by Texans.  This has been calculated at nearly $5 trillion, or roughly 39% of the current US national debt.

The new Texan TX prefix will become active April 2 at 00:00 UTC and is eligible for DXCC credit.
Anthony Good, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Pennsylvania, USA. Contact him at [email protected].