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Posts Tagged ‘amateur radio’

Ten-Tec at Hunstville Hamfest

September 27th, 2011 |

Someone from the Short Mountain Repeater Club, made a nice video from the Huntsville hamfest. It shows Ten Tec‘s booth all setup and looking sharp. It’s a short video but by all means it still is nice to get a look at hamfests from other parts of the country.There’s not much to tell about this. It’s just a look at the booth and all the great radios TenTec makes. Short and sweet. Enjoy.

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.

PARP 47–A letter and a poem

September 23rd, 2011 |

Author: Jerry KDØBIK

A letter written by fellow amateur Christopher Seright, KE5ZRT has been posted on several blogs and on social media platforms such as Facebook and Google+. I’m sure most will agree when I say some of our fellow hams and some amateur radio clubs are not as tolerant to the the recent changes in licensing procedures and new hams in general. This episode I read the letter Chris wrote along with a poem by Eddie Phillips, N4EMP.

I hope you’ll listen and share this information with others. You can download or stream episode 47 of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast from MyAmateurRadio.com.

Thank you for your time.

73 de KD0BIK

Update from John, W5CYF

September 23rd, 2011 |

Author: Rich KB2MOB

After a lightning strike near his house took out a good portion of his shack, John, W5CYF, has posted a video bringing his viewers up to speed to on how his shack is coming along after he has started to get some new equipment to get back on the air. He seems to have a nice collection of radios. Shown in the video is a TenTec Century 21, and a Kenwood TS-520, along with some filters and an MFJ Tuner. In previous videos he described what happened with the strike. While you can never predict when a lightning strike is going to happen, you should still plan for it. Ground your station. I was the victim of a near strike myself. It luckily only fried a few switches in my old FT-901DM. After that, I started grounding the station. While it was unfortunate, we can all learn from this. Here’s the update from John.

73.

Where’s the Love West Mountain Radio?

September 22nd, 2011 |

Author: Rich KB2MOB

So again, I am looking in the QST, and I found that West Mountain Radio is offering a new RigBlaster. Sweet! I love their products. So I read on and notice something is missing from the info on the website and in the QST ad. Does it support Mac?

Photo Courtesy of West Mountain Radio

Now I have been a convert from PC for about 4 years now. My very first computer was a Commodore 64, which I then upgraded to an Amiga 500. I have been and will always be an Amiga user at heart. For me, Macs are the closest thing to a main stream Amiga, other than an Amiga which are pretty expensive nowadays. But you can read more about that as well as listen to that on the Amiga Roundtable podcast that is produced here at AmiZed Studios. So now that I am a Mac user, I want the full experience. Ham Radio included.

I have an older Macbook Pro in the shack for my main machine. I do have a small PC, but it’s slow and I built it for an entirely different use. So it wouldn’t be practical to use that. But with the release of the RigBlaster Advantage, which looks to be an awesome product I would use in a heart beat on my Mac, I don’t know if it’s Mac compatable. Yes, Macs 90% of the time work with everything, but it would be nice to have that little bit of info to know that it will, without having to go hunt for a driver, like I did for my USB to serial interface I got. It works perfectly, but it would have been nice if I knew I had to go download them from the chip maker since they weren’t included on the disc I was given with it.

I was going to buy a RigBlaster Data Jack Plug and Play for my Mac, when i was told by the gentleman from Quicksilver, that it wasn’t supported on Mac. So I got a NoMic. When I got home and did some checking, I discovered it can work with Macs. I admit, this is more a pet peeve then anything, but still. It would be nice to know. I mean, there has to be more than one person at West Mountain with a Mac. OK, so I shall finish my rant here and just say that it would be nice to have that info from the manufacturer directly, instead of getting anecdotal evidence from a Google search.

But in case you’re wondering, here’s a link to the specs on West Mountain’s website.

73.

Handiham World for 21 September 2011

September 21st, 2011 |

Author: Patrick WA0TDA

Welcome to Handiham World!

Cartoon guy carring stack of ham radio books = all about ham radio.

A week from tomorrow (on Thursday, September 29) I will have the opportunity to do what I value most in amateur radio: teach a class for my local radio club. The topic will be the rules and regulations for the General Class, so it’s not really either a “fun” or “technical” topic. As the old saying goes, “it is what it is”, and that means that:

1. There is going to be a lot of memorization involved, and…

2. It’s not the most interesting stuff in the world.

Nonetheless, I will try to keep the class awake for the two hours we will have to hit the high points related to legal and courteous operation. I plan to take advantage of the LCD projector and use PowerPoint to make sure that I stay on subject and on time. If you have endured really boring PowerPoint presentations, you are probably stifling the urge to yawn even thinking about the prospect. As a teacher, I can use some amusing graphics and tell a few stories to break the tedium. Some instructors bring along small bags of candy – wrapped hard candies are great – and toss them out to the students as a reward for answering a question. When I talk about the rules, especially the frequency allocations, I like to emphasize the fun my students are going to have when they get on HF and start working those distant stations. Remember, most of the students will be Technician Class operators whose only experience is getting on repeater systems. Most will never have tried EchoLink or IRLP operation, either. The prospect of a new, more complicated radio and larger antenna might seem daunting, but why not present it instead as an exciting opportunity? As marketing people know, it is all in how you tell the story. It can pay off to tell a few stories about your first DX contact or your Field Day operations. The best one are the memorable ones where you were surprised by really great band conditions and worked some amazing DX or when you were able to pass a message that made a difference to a disaster victim.

Everyone has an interference story. When you talk about that part of the regulations, personalize it by saying a few words about what happened to you. My story is that I was a young operator, living with my parents, when I passed my own General exam and was finally able to get on the phone bands. All I had was a really basic transmitter, a Knight-Kit T-60. It used a really lame circuit that they called “screen grid modulation”, and it more or less (but mostly less) allowed for AM phone operation. My antenna was a vertical mounted in the back yard, fed by 50 ohm coax with a tapped coil at the feedpoint. It was pretty basic, to say the least.

Image: Knight-Kit T-60 transmitter

Anyway, I had my new General ticket taped to the wall in my bedroom and was really excited to get on the air. I found an open frequency and called CQ. Now that I have been a ham for decades I know that it would have been better to listen and join a QSO in progress or listen for someone else’s CQ, but I was really a newbie back then and didn’t know any better. Imagine my surprise when one day I was out fiddling with the tapped coil at the base of the vertical antenna, when our neighbor lady across the back fence got my attention and asked me if I was a ham radio operator. She explained that she was hearing my transmissions on top on her favorite AM broadcast station, WCCO. I was apologizing for the interference, but she stopped me and told me that it was perfectly all right and that she was interested in learning about ham radio herself! It didn’t take her long to get her ticket and for many years afterward she enjoyed getting on the air herself. Not every interference complaint is bad, it seems! Telling a story like that can add a bit of interest to an otherwise dull topic. Use your imagination and keep your students engaged!

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice
[email protected]
Handiham Manager

Who’s Using 6 Meters?

September 21st, 2011 |

Author: Rich KB2MOB

When I got my new QST the other day, I was flipping through it and found myself on the quick stats page. One of the questions was pretty simple and easy. Do you use 6 meters? WOW! The answer floored me.

Screen Shot from DX Sherlock Showing 6 Meter Activity

Maps Courtesy DX Sherlock

According to this stat, 84% don’t use 6 meters. Why? I know when I got on it, it was usually very quiet and no activity. What could the reason be? Everyone says it’s a fun band. I don’t think it’s lack of equipment. Most new all mode HF/VHF/UHF radios for the past 5 or so years, have had 6 meters built into it. And antennas can’t be the issue, as anyone could build a simple dipole for 6 meters. Even a 6 meter beam is pretty inexpensive. I got one at a Hamfest 4 years ago for like $60.

When I was at my local club meeting just last week, one of the guys asked what I was using and suggested I try PSK31, as that was a demonstration we had just watched, on 10 meters. Easy to get a vertical antenna up and a quick mode to setup as well. I like the idea, but I also want to get on 6 meters. He said yeah 6 is good, but the problem is no one is usually on there. Which brings me back to my question. Why not?

Yeah, DX on 6 can be fun when it’s hopping, but why not local stuff? SSB or AM. There’s an FM repeater listed for the area, but I’ll be damned if I can hear it. I’m starting to think it doesn’t exists anymore. But if it’s a lack of people, keeping 6 meters quiet, aren’t we just feeding the whole catch 22 cycle? I’m thinking maybe I should get the 6 meter dipole up and do a local 6 meter net on SSB. But now I put the question to you. If you’re not on 6 meters, why not?

73.

USS Pampanito, NJ6VT, Is On The Air [VIDEO]

September 20th, 2011 |

Author: Rich KB2MOB

I didn’t post anything yesterday because I wasn’t feeling well, so to make up for it I give you this. Southgate ARC has a story posted about the USS Pampanito, a World War II Balao class Fleet submarine, that is docked at pier 45 at Fisher Man’s Wharf in San Fransisco. They have an Amateur Radio station on board and it’s on the air.The Pampanito has been converted into a museum and memorial back in 2007, that is open daily. During WWII, the vessel made six patrols of the Pacific ocean and sunk six Japanese ships and damaged four others. One of the stops on the tour of the Pampantio is the radio room, where the Amateur Radio station is setup. Rem, K6BBQ, has made a video of the radio room showing some Hams making contacts from the submarine. Rem says about the video, “..I’ve added some special effects to go along with the Pampanito’s WWII history.”

This kind of reminds me of the USS Slater, that is docked here in Albany, NY. Here is Rem’s video. Enjoy.

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, The Rock of Albany’s 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.