AmateurRadio.com • Ham Radio Blog

Walmart Closeout Rechargeable Batteries

9 February 2010 | by Anthony K3NG | Leave a Comment (0)

A few days ago I found these rechargeable sealed lead acid lantern batteries from Remington for $5 each (normally $9.47) in the sporting goods section at Wally World.

They're each 6V 4.6 Ah, and (obviously) make 12V if used in series. They should make good backpacking batteries. I didn't really need anymore batteries, but it seemed like a good deal. I'm not sure if all Walmarts have these on closeout, but you may want to check your local store if you're needing some rechargeables for outdoor expeditions.

Anthony Good, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Pennsylvania, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

» Leave a Comment (0)

Homemade Alcohol Stoves for Outdoor Radio Artisans

5 February 2010 | by Anthony K3NG | Leave a Comment (0)

I've been experimenting with homemade lightweight alcohol stoves, in particular this design called the Penny Stove. These are so cheap and easy to make, yet amazingly effective. All you need to make the main burner part is two soda cans. To make the pot support I used the bottom of a coffee can and some spouting screen, and I used aluminum flashing to make a windscreen. The fuel is denatured alcohol you get at the hardware store, but you can use about any high proof alcohol like grain (yeah, the stuff you drank in college that made you deathly ill) or your local neighborhood moonshine. (Note that denatured alcohol is poisonous. As with any household chemical, keep it away from children and animals.)

Here's the burner and the bottom pre-heating thingy. About a half teaspoon of alcohol is first poured into the pre-heating part on the bottom. Then the top part is inserted into the bottom and about one or two teaspoons of alcohol is poured into the center hole in the burner.

Here's the assembled unit with the penny on top. The penny acts like a regulator and will tilt up and release the pressure inside if it gets too high.

The burner inside the pot support.

The stove heating a cup of water for a late evening cup of tea.

What the flames look like in the dark.....

I haven't given exact directions on how to construct this as you can go to the Penny Alcohol Stove website and get that. The website seems to insist on a particular size can and some other very specific items. However, I found that the design parameters aren't too critical and it's fun to just build many prototypes and see what works the best. Just be sure to do your testing outside in a safe area and wear appropriate eye protection and take the necessary safety precautions. Take this lightweight little stove on your outdoor radio adventures instead of the typical larger stove and you'll have more backpack space for a linear amp or beverages. Have fun!

(Common sense isn't a requirement for an amateur radio license. As always, if you kill or maim yourself or others experimenting with this stove, it's your own darn fault. Standard disclaimers apply.)

Anthony Good, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Pennsylvania, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

» Leave a Comment (0)

Handiham World for 03 February 2010

3 February 2010 | by Patrick WA0TDA | Leave a Comment (0)

Welcome to Handiham World!

See you in May

Dr. Dave Justis, KN0S, and snowman friend after storm in Virginia, January 2010

That’s what Dr. Dave Justis, KN0S, writes. Just look at Dr. Dave standing by that big snowman. You would never guess that he lives in Virginia, and that the snowfall there has been most unusual for that southern State!

Dave is planning to be at Minnesota Radio Camp at Camp Courage, May 21 through 28, 2010. A long-time Handiham volunteer, Dr. Dave is a veteran of many radio camp sessions at locations in California and Minnesota. The return to Camp Courage, which is a big change for us, actually brings the Handiham program closer to its roots.

Dr. Dave remembers when the first radio camp sessions, then called “convocations”, were held at Camp Courage. For the past 20 years Minnesota Radio Camp has been at Courage North, deep in the pines of Northern Minnesota, near the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Camp Courage, founded in 1955, is just an hour west of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, in southern Minnesota.

The new location will provide campers like Dr. Dave excellent accommodations and much more convenient transportation options.

Find out more about camp or download an application on handiham.org – Just follow the radio camp application link.

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice, [email protected]

Pat Tice, WA0TDA, is the manager of HANDI-HAM and a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

» Leave a Comment (0)

January 2010 Wrap-Up

3 February 2010 | by Paul Lannuier | Leave a Comment (0)

Almost all of my activity in January was limited to contests (RTTY Roundup, PSKFest, NAQP SSB, and BARTG Sprint) which accounted for a lot of new states on 80m and 40m but not too many new countries.

DXCC: Made a big leap from 29 to 42 countries worked on 40m. Worked 2 new (all-band) countries — Iceland (TF) on 40m PSK and Sweden (SM) on 20m CW.

WAS: The NAQP Phone test boosted my 80m WAS total from 1 state to 28 in a single night, as well as bumping my all-band phone state count from 19 to 43. The RTTY Roundup at the beginning of January netted me 30 new states on that mode.

WAZ: No new zones overall, but I added 4 zones each on CW and RTTY modes, and one new zone on PSK.

Stats through 31-Jan-2010:

	All	80m	40m	30m	20m	17m	15m	Ph	CW	Dig
DXCC	80	2	42	10	66	12	20	52	5	62
WAS	50	28	48	7	48	19	12	43	1	50
WAZ	26	3	20	8	23	9	8	22	5	22

» Leave a Comment (0)

Underground Radio

31 January 2010 | by Anthony K3NG | Leave a Comment (0)

On NPR this morning I read this article entitled Texting Underground Can Save Lives and Caves . Sixteen year old Alexander Kendrick won the 2009 International Science Fair for inventing an extremely low frequency cave texting device. It's described as something like a "computer attached to a ham radio", transmitting data using low-frequency radio waves that can penetrate rock more easily than high-frequency transmissions like those in FM broadcasts.

Unfortunately it doesn't appear Alexander is an amateur radio operator as I couldn't find a license database entry. I'm curious as to the modulation he is using; this would be an ideal application for PSK and one could use existing amateur radio software.

Kudos to Alexander (PSSSST! You can connect a computer to a ham radio! Email me! :-)

Anthony Good, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Pennsylvania, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

» Leave a Comment (0)

ICQ Podcast Series Three Episode Three (31 January 2010) – Talking Antennas

31 January 2010 | by Colin M6BOY | Leave a Comment (0)

Series Three Episode Three of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast. News Stories include:-

Your feedback, Hints, Tips & Tricks and Martin (M1MRB), Colin (M6BOY), Alun Cross (G4WGE) discuss Antennas with Ian Hoe (M3GPZ)

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

» Leave a Comment (0)

While I was distracted…

28 January 2010 | by Paul Lannuier | Leave a Comment (0)

Other than working ZL2PW on 40m during a bout of insomnia in the wee hours the other night, I’ve mostly been QRT all week. However, I left the K3 tuned to 7035 as I usually do just to see what might have been. I wish I hadn’t looked.

According to PSKReporter, I missed some needed DX on 40m last night:

Azores: CU3CP @ 0058
Austral Is.: TX3D @ 0231
Angola: D2QMN @ 0503
S. Korea: 6K5BLW @ 1410

Plus a few Russians — I actually need both European and Asiatic Russia on 40m digital?!?!? Hmm.

Oh, well… those who snooze, lose.

» Leave a Comment (0)