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Handiham World for 05 October 2011

October 5th, 2011 |

Author: Patrick WA0TDA

Welcome to Handiham World.

A broken water pipe gets me thinking…

What sort of things might cause a disaster in my ham radio shack? I started thinking about this recently after dealing with a minor disaster caused by a leaking water pipe in the ceiling of the basement. As usual, I was sitting in my home office, which also serves as my ham shack, when I heard a faint drip, drip, drip. Since I spend an awful lot of time in my office, I know and recognize all of the usual sounds of the house around me. In fact, I don’t really notice if the compressor in the freezer comes on and my brain rarely even registers sound of the washing machine or dryer in the adjacent laundry room. The furnace or air conditioner can come on and go off without interrupting me. Jasper, my dog, wanders the house and occasionally growls at a squirrel that he sees through the window. None of this stuff bothers me or particularly gets my attention. But the brain is a marvelous thing; it can ignore the common and expected while immediately picking up on something unusual.

The sound of dripping water, even though barely audible, got my attention!

Sure enough, an inspection of the recreation room around the corner from my office revealed a drip from the ceiling. Several of the tiles in the suspended ceiling had gotten waterlogged and collapsed onto the floor, and I hadn’t heard that sound because I had only just a few minutes before come into the office to sit down and do some more work. The leak must have occurred in the afternoon shortly after I had finished my usual office day and had taken the dog out for a walk. When I returned to the office after dinner, that’s when I heard the dripping sound that was so out of place. It turns out that a 90° copper connecting joint in the cold water pipe going to the outdoor irrigation system developed a tiny pinhole leak on the inside of the bend. The tiny, almost invisible spray was enough to create quite a mess given a few hours. The soaked ceiling tiles collapsed onto an easy chair, soaking it and ruining the cushion. The carpet on the floor was soaked in an area of about a yard square. A few other items stored in the room got wet on the outside, but were not ruined because I heard the drip and responded in time to shut off the water. Fortunately, we have a carpet cleaning machine that vacuums up water and we had a spare cushion for the chair. I haven’t replaced the ceiling tiles yet, but they are standard 2′ x 2′ squares that are commonly available at any big box building store. As we are so fond of saying in Minnesota, “it could’ve been worse!”

Of course I called the plumber, and he was able to fix the problem the next day. Fortunately, we have a shut off valve for that particular leg of the water system in our house, so there was no need to keep the main valve turned off. It’s heck to be without water when you need to wash, cook, and flush! But what got me to thinking about the ham shack in relation to this broken pipe was that the shutoff valve is located directly above the ceiling in my office. In fact, several water pipes converge in the ceiling above the ham shack and it is sobering to think that the copper pipe carrying all of that water is exactly the same age as the pipe fitting that failed in the next room, which is about 20 years old. So, as I sit here talking into the microphone and enjoying a nice session on my radio, will I one day feel a drip, drip, drip on my head? I guess it could happen, and I have to admit that when I finished the basement and built the ham shack I never gave a second thought to the water pipes running through the ceiling joists overhead. I had grown up with copper water pipe in my parents’ house, and I cannot remember a single time that there had ever been a leak. I guess I would not have been too surprised if a leak had occurred where pipes were joined in the soldered connection, but to have a piece of copper simply spring a leak in the body of the pipe? It did seem pretty unlikely, but like all such things it is not something to worry about unless it happens to you – and it happened to me!

So I am forced to assess the probability of another leak, perhaps occurring over the critical electronic and computing equipment I have in the ham shack. Some of this equipment runs for hours or days at a time without being turned off. One can only imagine the damage that would be caused by water pouring onto the energized equipment. When I wired the ham shack, everything was put on ground fault interrupters. Given a good soaking, the equipment would probably short and trip the interrupters, but by then of course the station and computers would be ruined. This is not something I care to think about, but it is nonetheless a possibility. I had considered the possibility of a leak like the one we had to be extremely remote, and perhaps I was right. Nonetheless, had the leak occurred over the ham shack it would’ve meant many thousands of dollars of damage instead of a soaked chair cushion and a few feet of wet carpet.

What to do? Well, moving the ham shack and home office would be a major undertaking and a huge disruption in my work schedule. It wouldn’t be impossible, but it would be expensive and difficult. For now, the best I can do is to turn the main water valve for the entire house to the “off” position whenever we leave on vacation or for any kind of extended multi-day trip. This is something I have always done anyway, and while it is not a perfect solution, it does prevent damage from leaks that might occur when no one is home and when damage can be severe due to the fact that no one is around to discover the leak. Long ago, when I worked in an appliance store, we recommended that our customers who were leaving on vacation turn off the water supply to their washing machines because the hoses that fed the washing machine might burst and cause flooding in the basement. Turning off the whole house valve takes care of that problem. Keeping equipment off the floor is another good idea.

We are used to thinking about protecting our amateur radio equipment and its associated computer equipment from lightning damage, but we cannot ignore the threat posed by water!

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice
[email protected]
Handiham Manager

iHAB-7 Was a Sucsess!

October 5th, 2011 |

Author: Rich KB2MOB

Southgate Amatuer Radio has a great article about iHAB-7, which is a high altitude balloon that carried Amateur Radio as well as record HD video of the flight. It went up to a little over 85,000 feet and took some stunning images.

YouTube Screen Shot

It all carried a 40 Meter beacon and a 70cm simplex repeater up with it. The video was posted on YouTube and I am re-posting it here for you as well. Here’s the description from the YouTube video giving a little more detail on the flight:

First, we are thankful for everyone who participated in the iHAB-7 launch. What a GREAT way to spend a beautiful Iowa fall day! iHAB-7 was a picture perfect flight! The propulsion team did a fantastic job getting the balloon filled to specifications, which gave iHAB-7 a perfect 5.5m/sec ascent rate.
The balloon stayed aloft for 1 Hour – 51min, reaching a burst altitude of 85,290ft and traveling 33 miles down range. COLD temperature at altitude, lowest temperature recorded inside the payload reached -8 °C or 17.6 °F. The recovery team had the rare opportunity to get a visual on the payload at 8,000 feet on its decent, and witnessed it land in a freshly harvested cornfield SE of Morning Sun, Iowa.
Signal reports are still coming in on the 40 Meter beacon. UHF Simplex repeater worked as well as it could. Being a “Parrot” it is a little more challenging to work, but some folks were able to make QSOs.
A special thank you to the Washington Area Amateur Radio Club for their sponsorship of the iHAB-7 Launch! Also, thank you to Mark Joseph (KC9DUU) – Jesse Risley (K9JLR) – Jeremy Lamb (KC9KGJ) – and Pete Lilja (KC0GPB) for chasing with us!

Looking at a still image from the video, the view reminds me of Courasant from Star Wars. There I go being geek again. Anyways, here is your Amateur Radio moment of “Zen”.

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, Albany’s #1 Rock Station website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne.

Central Florida QRP Meetup 8 October 2011

October 4th, 2011 |

Author: Kelly K4UPG

This coming Saturday at the Melbourne Hamfest and ARRL FL State Convention QRP ops from around the state will gather for a time of eyeball QSO’s, bragging, show ‘n tell and maybe even some operating from the picnic tables in the park next door!

Looking for Something?

Get there early and do your tailgating and swapping so you can gather at noon near the front entrance. Look for K4UPG’s gawdy yellow hat and come up and say HI! Some of us want to go to lunch together and depending on the number we have a couple places in mind that are nearby the event site.

So come one and all (even the curious) and join the fun.

GATHERING: Front entrance to Auditorium

DATE: Saturday, 8 October 2011

TIME: 12:00-12:15 EDT

Bring some gear if you want to play radio in the park or on the beach later in the day!

Pumpkin Patrol is Coming!

October 3rd, 2011 |

Author: Rich KB2MOB

I haven’t heard about this too much in the last few years, but back when I first got my license, I helped out with this. So I figured I would mention the Pumpkin Patrol since it’s now October and Halloween will be here before we know it!

Screen Shot of YNN Video

When I was helping out, I was stationed on one of 2 bridges near where I lived. One was in the village of Fultonville, just off Exit 28 on the NY Thruway, and the other was in Amsterdam off of Exit 27 of the Thruway. Both bridges, went over the Thruway and were accessible because they were State routes that went over the bridges. Now I had heard on the news about kids throwing stuff off of the bridges down on to roads and cars. And after a particularity bad incident, the NY State Police decided to stop the problem right off. That’s where volunteer Ham Radio operators like myself came in.

I had heard on the local repeater they were looking for a few people to help cover bridges and that they needed someone to cover one of those 2 bridges by me. So I called the man in charge at the time, Jack, WA2YBM, and ask if I could help. Long story short, I got all the info and a plaque for the car so the police knew who I was, and went out and sat on the bridge till midnight and did my check ins. I did it a few more times. Then I didn’t hear anything about it for a while, so I never really did it again.

Although, given the chance, I might be willing to still do it, if the need arose. It was fun, but to be honest, it was also a little boring. But I kept myself occupied and still enjoyed the experience overall. If there is a Pumpkin Patrol in your area, I would encourage you to sign up and be a part of it. Especially if you’re looking for something for the first time out. This would be a good way to break the ice.

Here’s a link to a quick story from a couple years ago. Just a blurb on the news…

73.

Coffee Talk for Amatuer Radio

September 30th, 2011 |

Author: Rich KB2MOB

So, for a month or so now, my posts have been syndicating on AmateurRadio.com and a couple of my articles have gotten some response. 1 that I would like to review and still get some info on is my ‘Who’s Using 6 Meters?‘ post. (AmateurRadio.com post)I’m still very curious what the deal is with 6 meters.

Photo Rich Lawrence

I guess I just can’t get my head around it. So I think I need to do something locally to get 6 meter activity going. Maybe setup that net I was talking about in the article. That would be a good way to go I think. Make it an informal thing, and invite as many local people to be a part of it as I could. The question would be, when to do it? Weekends? Weeknights? I don’t want to make anyone miss Football or The Big Bang Theory.

The only other thing I want to get comments on from people, are the dual posting of stories on AmateurRadio.com. None of the other writers and I really co-ordinate what we are all working on or anything. I just find a story and post it with my own style. And I usually don’t go to the site on a regular basis because of my work schedule and when I write my stories. So I’m curious how people feel about that. I guess you can get multiple views on the stories, but doesn’t that get kind of frustrating?So I would love to know what others think about it.

Please comment below. Thanks, and Make Mine Marvel!! (Peter Parker will ALWAYS be Spider-Man!)

73.

CQ to Add Digital Editions to All Publications

September 29th, 2011 |

Author: Rich KB2MOB

This is something pretty cool. CQ Communications, the publisher of CQ Amateur Radio (CQ magazine), CQ VHF, Popular Communications and WorldRadio Online will begin publishing electornic versions of their magazine starting this coming October.

Richard Ross, K2MGA, made the announcement a couple days ago and Editorial Director Rich Moseson, W2VU, explained how the digital editions would be supplimental and not replace the print versions. He said they would also have added features to the digital versions as well.

“Versions will be available for a variety of online and mobile platforms and will be hosted by Zinio, one of the top names in the e-magazine hosting business. This will assure that our magazines will always be able to take advantage of new technology when it becomes available.”

Cover of CQ Communication's World Radio Magazine

Some of the added features will be links to websites, as well as audio and photo albums as well as video and software. He also added that with the continuation of the print magazines, readers will still have the tactile experience we are all familiar with.

This is a good thing in my opinion. It’s melding the two worlds and laying the ground work for the next generation to discover this magazine. In 20 years, I predict that most publications will be digital, while print slowly fades from the foreground. I’m sure they will still make printed versions, but not as much. It’s also better for the environment.

According to the article over at Southgate’s website, “The digital launch will begin in late October with the November issue of an enhanced, multi-platform, version of WorldRadio Online, which will again become a paid-subscription publication; followed by November CQ, which, appropriately, is the magazine’s first annual Technology Special. The fall issue of CQ VHF and the December issue of Popular Communications will round out the introductions. Digital editions will be available by single copy and by subscription.”

No word though on pricing for digital versions though. I would suspect, it’ll be much cheaper compared with the print version.

73.

Handiham World for 28 September 2011

September 28th, 2011 |

Author: Patrick WA0TDA

Welcome to Handiham World.

What got you started in radio?

When I think about that question, I recall a little crystal radio kit that my dad bought for me. It had a plastic housing to make it look like a real table radio, except that it was smaller and had only a single earpiece. And of course it “magically” took a radio signal right out of the airwaves and turned it into music without any electricity at all! It was one of several crystal diode radios that I had as a kid. Another memorable one was made up in a round plastic ball that was supposed to be a satellite. There was a tuning control that consisted of a slug-tuned coil. The brass screw from the ferrite slug extended out of the top of the “satellite” like some sort of antenna. It had a little rubber cap on it to serve as a grip, so that the coil could be tuned more easily. The real antenna was a piece of bell wire with an alligator clip at the end. That allowed you to connect the radio to something conductive that might hopefully act as a better antenna and bring in a local AM station. Of course today the term “satellite radio” means something completely different!

When I was a teenager, dad bought me a Knight-Kit Span Master two tube regenerative receiver. It was not my brightest moment in radio when the kit manual called for putting “spaghetti” over some of the bare wire leads during assembly and I went down to the kitchen cabinet to find this apparently necessary but odd ingredient for a radio. Dad straightened me out on that and we ended up using the insulating tubing that was actually already provided by Knight-Kit.

Knight-Kit Span Master as shown in 1962 catalog.

Image: Here is the Knight-Kit Span Master as shown in a 1962 Allied Radio catalog. You could get the outdoor antenna kit for only 1 cent more, but the radio itself cost $25.95.

The Span Master worked when it was finished, so I installed it in the vinyl-covered wooden cabinet that came with it and ran a wire out of my bedroom window to serve as an antenna. The circuit might not seem like much, since it had only two vacuum tubes, but it turned out to be light-years ahead of the crystal radios. One important feature was a speaker, so I didn’t have to use headphones. The tuning knob was connected directly to a variable capacitor, but there was a helpful bandspread knob connected to a second capacitor so that fine tuning was possible without pulleys and dial strings. Furthermore, the radio had a band switch and covered not only the AM broadcast band but also several short-wave bands. In spite of the two tube design, a fair amount of gain could be had from the simple regenerative circuit. It was also possible to hear Morse code and even something that was new and mysterious back then: SSB. You had to be patient and careful tuning it in, though. It was more fun to listen to far off short-wave stations and find out what was happening all around the world.

I consider the Span Master to have been the radio that really got me interested in getting my amateur radio Novice license. Today we can still find electronic kits, and who knows? One of those kits might spark the interest of a future engineer, scientist, or teacher! Consider an electronic kit as a gift for your child, making it age-appropriate, of course. Then make it a parent-child project to assemble it and make it work. You will both have fun, and open the door to STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

Next week: Thoughts about a broken water pipe.

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice
[email protected]
Handiham Manager