AmateurRadio.com

I thought I might get skunked today!  The bands seemed pretty dead – and the wind was blowing 20-25 mph!

I finally did have two QSO’s….

IK2CIO – Vini was calling CQ from Italy.  Tried several times and got a 599 report from him – which I suspect was more of a contest style report – but still fun none the less!  I worked Vini on 17 meters.

I didn’t hear any other action, so I called CQ on 20 meters at 14.061.  A very weak station replied….

AJ8P – Jeff returned my CQ from Sherrodsville, OH.  He was very weak, and then someone started calling CQ really close to us.  If I cranked up the filter, I would lose him – so just had to suffer through it.  Jeff said he was running 2 watts.

After I got back to work, I had an email from Jeff.  He sent me this picture and said he was using the Mag Loop inside!  This just makes me want to get one of my loops working so I can start having some radio fun from the comfort of my home.

From checking out Jeff’s QRZ page, he has a couple nice QRP rigs on his page – worth a visit.

Episode #111 Audio (Listen now!):

Introduction:

In this episode: Russ (K5TUX) and Pete (VE2XPL) are at it again after a long hiatus and Harrison (VE2HKW) pops in in the middle of the episode to discuss CrunchBang and if Open source can cause Malaise.

Topics:

• Petr, OK2CQR (Check Republic), is starting a new project called CQRTest, which will be a contest logger.
  • http://cqrtest.com/

• VE2XPL Ham Radio TraveLog: LOBSTERCON 2013 – 5-10 mins.
  • http://www.lobstercon.me/
  • Rex Harper W1REX of the TunaTin2 fame
  • http://qrpme.com/?p=product&id=TTT

• First solar-powered Linux laptop
  • Summary: A new kind of laptop, the  SOL, is being designed for the great outdoors and it’s powered by  sunlight and it will be running Linux.
  • Source: http://www.zdnet.com/first-solar-powered-linux-laptop-7000019183/
  • By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols for Linux and Open Source – August  9, 2013

• Running Linux on a Windows PC
  • Source: http://www.itworld.com/software/368598/running-linux-windows-pc-your-getting-started-guide

• The LIVE CD List
  • http://livecdlist.com/

• Does Open Source use cause malaise?

• VE2HKW discusses CrunchBang Linux and the search for the non-PAE kernel.
  • http://www.crunchbang.org

Announcements & Feedback:

• Voicemail from Jonathan Nadeau.

• Comments from Johnny K.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Loon

Social Media Roundup:

• Twitter new follower
  • @doomtroll

• Facebook
  • Edward Cole likes Linux in the Ham Shack Podcast.
  • Jason Matthew Ford I likes Linux in the Ham Shack Podcast

• Subscribers and Donations
  • Jonas R. – Yearly Subscription
  • Doug J. – Yearly Subscription
  • Tom L. – Donation
  • Steve C. – Monthly Subscription
  • Mike K. – Yearly Subscription

• Feedback
  • E-mail from Michael Aiello [n2htt] & David Aiello

Credits:

• Thank you to our monthly and yearly subscribers.
• Thank you to all of our listeners, live and quasi-live.
• You can reach us at [email protected].  You can leave us voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (547-7469).
• Please subscribe to the mailing list.  A link is on the Web site.
• Go to CafePress and Printfection and buy some of our show merchandise.  Each purchase helps out the show.
• Listen live every every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central.  Our recording schedule is on the Web site.

Music:

• “Suzanne” by Gamma Leonis, courtesy of Reverbnation.
• “It Didn’t Matter” by The Crawls from their second EP, courtesy of Jamendo.

Hello, LHS listeners! Well, we've had a bit of a hiatus as I found a couple of other projects that took a lot of my time. But we're back! The episodes have been recorded on schedule, and we're still doing them live every other Tuesday. I've just had a hard time getting them edited and put out. But look for the last three within the next 7-10 days. Hope you're all doing well, and don't worry--we're not going anywhere.

73 de The LHS Guys

My intent for this blog is to serve primarily as a notebook – a place where I can capture important details concerning my amateur radio activities and then refer back to them if needed. This includes interesting websites, hamshack successes and failures, equipment settings, as well as plans for the future. Occasionally the subject matter on the blog opens a bit broader… beyond amateur radio .

The cliche about some long time hams of having life “take over” at some point in a ham career is a cliche for a good reason. Sometimes the balance tips and radios are put on the backshelf. I’m at a mid-life career transition point, retiring from the military and moving into “the next phase”. Plan A is to become an elementary school teacher. None of my previous academic work really supports this transition and despite popular misconceptions, in the state of Kansas… you can’t just show up and say “Hey, I’d like to be a teacher!” It is actually a somewhat difficult process. Fortunately a nearby university has a well respected program that I am not too far from completing. The program is time intensive (this semester I am taking 13 credit hours… while working full-time). This is my last semester behind the desk. I start my retirement transition at the end of December and in January I start student teaching.

One of the great aspects to the program I am in is that I get plenty of time inside elementary grade classrooms so I have a clear idea of what I am getting into. Over the last 12 months I have had the opportunities to visit numerous classrooms seeing various grade levels and teaching styles. It is great going into this transition with my eyes wide open.

However, this educational experience (along with work) has been time-intensive. My time in front of the radio (or submitting blog entries) has been seriously limited. The hamshack has become somewhat of a dumping ground (for my other hobbies of O gauge model trains and 80′s arcade games) and only recently was I able to did a path out from the door to the operating desk. My goal is to adjust the balance just a bit and spend a little more time with the radios. We’ll see how it goes.

Hanz W1JSB and I hiked to Knox Mountain this afternoon. What a day! We worked England, Italy, Hungary and Spain… but that was only part of it. This was the most stunning early fall day. Perfect for a hike. We walked along the brook, sparking in gold sunlight. The greenest moss I’ve ever seen adorned the rocks. Piercingly blue gentians were in full bloom below the dam as we approached the pond. It was a dazzling view.

We walked around the pond and came to the two small cabins that overlook the water.

We set up between the cabins, in front, toward the lake. We threw a water bottle over a 40 foot high branch on the large cherry tree. I used the KX3 at 5 watts. The antenna was a 33 foot wire connected to the rig through an earchi.org 9:1 unun. I started on 15 meters with a quick contact with G3PJT. Bob gave me a 559 and he was a 599. Then I gave the key to Hanz.

We switched to 17 meters and right away Hanz worked Laci, HA0NAR in Hungary. Laci was very strong and gave Hanz a 579. It’s really exciting to set up portable gear from a small backpack and work across Europe with a few minutes’ effort.

Hanz handed the key back and I worked IK5ZWU, Walter in Italy. I was 559 and he was a 589. “FB UR 5 WATTS,” he sent before we signed.

I made one more quick QSO with Vic in Spain before packing up. EA3MM gave me a 559 and he was a 599.

We paused on the way back to take one more photo of the pond.

Hanz and I talked about the places we want to hike to during the fall… the ledges, mountain pond, and, of course, a return to Knox Mountain.

Today I went to my usual spot in the local park.  I didn’t hear a bunch of activity, but I kept tuning up and down the band on 17 meters primarily.

I heard a station calling and working guys contest style.  It took me about 5 times to get the call right, since it was so long and he was sending pretty fast.

The call was EI13CLAN – a special event station in Ireland!  What made this really special is because of this…

My father-in-law passed away suddenly in June – exactly 3 months ago today.  Mike was a very proud Irish Catholic.  He had a trip to Ireland planned for August – which he was never able to take.  Mike had been on my mind all day, and then to work a station in Ireland – WOW!  Mike would have loved hearing this story.  I

It kindof made me wonder if he had a hand in helping my signals fly through the air to Ireland! 🙂

If you work EI13CLAN enough, you get this special certificate – I will be happy with a QSL card as soon as they update the Clublog so I can order one.