AmateurRadio.com

Gerrit PA3BYA has created an interesting SSTV Security Camera with the Raspberry Pi.

I could see this set up in the doorway of a repeater building on a remote mountaintop somewhere. It would be priceless to see a vandal’s bewildered face!

Would that jibe with Part 97? 🙂

Jameco recently reached out to me to ask if I’d be willing to ask you about the type of amateur radio products you’d like to see them carry.

Like DigiKey and Mouser, Jameco is one of the larger electronics component distributors in the United States. They’ve taken notice that amateur radio is a growing hobby and that their current inventory selection may not be serving us as well as it could.

So, what type of items do you have trouble sourcing?

Antennas? Batteries? RF connectors? A wide selection of QRP and other types of inexpensive kits? Other components you’ve had to source overseas?

No idea is too crazy — they want to know what’s on your mind and what frustrations you have when trying to get the items you need.

Normally my projects take a long time to finish because I can’t find the right materials (I’ll dedicate a post on that later). But my “Shack-in-a-Box” project was done fairly quickly: only six weeks.

The box is an old German army issue box that my Junker straight key came in. Very sturdy and not too heavy.

I padded it with foam I got from a shop selling notebook batteries; the plexiglass dividers were left-overs from old cosmetic product displays. The little basket was a dollar from the local hardware store and the only thing bought new.

Everything but the antenna is in there: the KX3, LiPo battery (old laptop battery cells from a friend), the touch paddle and various cables. There are ear plugs and an old computer microphone with which I get very good audio reports. With this setup it takes me less than a minute to be operational and packing up is equally fast. This weekend is a long one in Taiwan because of Peace Memorial Day and I’ll be out on the coast doing my first serious stint of portable operation. If you hear me on air don’t hesitate to call me. 73.

Thanks for the sexy, royal blue aluminum finger pieces!  I removed the black plastic ones and put these on. Oh, and by the way, they also sent me a spare pair of black aluminum ones, too!

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

Out for a lunchtime walk yesterday, I decided to pop into the local bookshop for a browse, not particularly intending to buy anything.

However, in the ‘travel’ section, I came across a lovely little book called ‘Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I have not visited and never will’ by Judith Schlansky. As I leafed through the book, beautifully presented, I realised that in a manner of speaking, I had ‘visited’ many of the islands mentioned through the medium of radio.

When we have a contact with a distant island though, it is easy for it to be just a tick on a list and very often we have little sense of what life is like there. This is where this book comes in nicely!

For each island, there’s a map – as well as a couple of pages with some background to the island. In fact, the entry for Annabon relates directly to amateur radio and the aborted DXpedition in the early years of the ‘noughties’.St Kilda’s entry was even sadder, describing the issues of infant mortality that had beset the island.

I only browsed a handful of islands last night, but for anyone who is interested in the big wide world out there, and I’m certain that includes many radio amateurs – you’ll love this book!

Find the book on Amazon

This past weekend, we enjoyed some temperatures in the upper 40s and lower 50s (9 to 12C) and we had a lot of snow melt. I’ve even seen some robins hopping about – a sure sign that Spring is on the way.  These Polar Vortices that we have been enduring, bringing bone chilling cold and snow down into our midst have sure taken a bite out of my lunch time QRP operating sessions.

I guess I am not the hardiest individual.  While I love QRP and CW, and getting on the air as much as I can, I do not cherish the cold weather. I have not been on the air at lunchtime since last December. Way back then, daytime temperatures were tolerable, and I didn’t mind sitting in the car and pounding brass. It was chilly, but not mind numbingly cold.

The past few Winters spoiled me.  I look back at my logbook, and I see that there were actually days that were so mild in January and February, that I actually spent some lunch hours out of doors in the local park!  This year, that would have been the height of insanity.  Hating the cold weather as much as I do, even Amateur Radio is not enjoyable for me if I am not comfortable.  Operating under adverse conditions during an emergency is one thing. Doing it when you’re supposed to be just having everyday fun is not my cup of tea.

The good news is that, if the weather prognosticators are correct, we should be heading into more normal temperatures come maybe the second week of March.  So even if it isn’t balmy, it will be more than warm enough to head out to the car for some daily lunch hour QRP.  The old 60’s song rings true – “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t what you’ve got ’til it’s gone?”  I really miss my daily fix of QRP.

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