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HF propagation conditions have not been great today. There was not much happening on 15m at all.

Today is the 88th Anniversary of the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) which is World Amateur Radio Day. Didn’t you know that? Well neither did I until I worked CR5IARU on 20m PSK31. Not that I’d have known from working the station. I had to use QRZ.com to find out what the special call was all about.

Perhaps it’s just me but I thought the purpose of a special event call was to raise awareness of some particular event or anniversary. In pursuit of which the special event station should give out this information on every contact. But too often it seems to be taken as an opportunity to work as many stations as possible, contest style.

Another special call that I worked today on 20m PSK31 was HF2013TATO. When I asked the operator Jarek what the special call was for my request was ignored. So I had to go on the internet again. From what I could deduce, this special call is to raise awareness of the role of the father in the family. There may be more to it than that but my Polish is not very good. 🙂 But I do know that “tato” means “dad.”

With all the news about giant solar flares that could black out communications I was surprised to hear activity on 10 metres. I made a few contacts on SSB with my attic dipole, including A65EE in Dubai and TC2012WKD from Turkey: a special event station for World Kidney Day to raise awareness of the importance of kidneys to our health.

I like to operate on the highest frequencies I can. On the shortest wavelengths small antennas are at the least disadvantage.

Now is the time all over the world where Hams open up their stations to let kids in to experience Ham Radio. January 8th is the magical day and it’s sure to be fun for all involved. For those new to the hobby, it’s not another contest, but just a fun time.

Photo Couretsy of ARRL.org

The American Radio Relay League has a website dedicated to Kid’s Day, as does the IARU Region 1. It’s all about having Kid’s participate by calling CQ Kid’s Day and exchanging Name, age, location and favorite color. And you’re encouraged to work stations again when the operator changes. Operations take place at 1800 UTC through 2359 UTC. The ARRL shows that operation is on the following frequencies:

10 Meters: 28.350 to 28.400 MHz

12 Meters: 24.960 to 24.980 MHz
15 Meters: 21.360 to 21.400 MHz
17 Meters: 18.140 to 18.145 MHz
20 Meters: 14.270 to 14.300 MHz
40 Meters: 7.270 to 7.290 MHz
80 Meters: 3.740 to 3.940 MHz

You can also use your favorite favorite repeater (with permission of the repeater’s sponsor). Be sure to observe third-party restrictions when making DX QSOs.

The ARRL has a colorful certificate that all kids are eligible to receive  just by participating.  But beware, some kids can be mic shy. So encourage them in a fun way.And remember to also post your photos and stories for all to see. If your club doesn’t have a Facebook page, this may be the best time to start one.

73.

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It’s very hard to believe it’s been 10 years since that horrible day when nearly 3 thousand people were killed. I’m sure many of us remember where we were when we found out. It’s a fixed point in time, to use Doctor Who terminology. To commemorate this event, Special Event stations will be on the air. Here is a list of the stations and details from the ARRL’s website:

• The Pentagon Amateur Radio Club, K4AF, will be on the air 7 AM-9 PM Saturday, September 10 (1100-0100 UTC, Saturday, September 10 through Sunday, September 11). Active operating frequencies will be posted during event on the K4AF website. This Special Event is to honor all those lost on September 11, 2001, with special remembrance of the 184 people who lost their lives at the Pentagon and on board American Airlines Flight 77.
• The Blair Amateur Radio Society, W3PN, will be operating N3U/FLT93 from September 8-15 in memoriam of United Flight 93 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This year’s activity will take place during tenth anniversary and the Memorial Dedication for the Victims of United Flight 93. To receive a QSL card, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Blair Amateur Radio Society, W3PN, 112 E Wopsononock Ave, Altoona, PA 16601.
• The Northeast Wireless Radio Club, N2WC, will be on the air Sunday, September 11 from 12 noon until 6 PM EDT (1700-2300 UTC). NWRC members will be operating in the General class bands on Phone, CW and Digital; please check the clusters for frequency updates. You can receive a Special Event QSL card when you send a $2 donation to Northeast Wireless Radio Club, 213-37 39th Avenue, Suite 175, Bayside, NY 11361.
• The Kings County Repeater Association, KC2RA, will be on the air 9 AM-5 PM EDT (1300-2100 UTC) on Saturday, September 10. Look for KC2RA on 7.250 and 14.295 MHz, as well as EchoLink node 132967 (KC2LEB-R) and the KC2RA repeater at 146.430 (CTCSS 136.5). KC2RA members will be offering a special QSL card for the event. To receive a card, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to KC2RA 9/11 Memorial Event, PO Box 280288, Brooklyn, NY 11228-0288. (This was previously posted on AmiZed Studios)
• The Symbol Technologies Amateur Radio Club, W2SBL, will be on the air September 10-11 on the following frequencies: 3.911, 7.240, 14.070 and 50.135 MHz, as well as D-STAR REF10C. STARC members will read the name of a person killed in the attacks with every QSO. A Special Event QSL card is available when you send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Symbol Technologies Amateur Radio Club, W2SBL, One Motorola Plaza, B-13, Holtsville, NY 11742.

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.

I’ve seen a couple of stories about this video already, so I figured I would post it too, and get Randy a little more traffic to the YouTube video. Randy headed to Petaluma, CA, and hung out at the TWiT Brickhouse with Bob Heil, K9EID and Leo Laporte, W6TWT, for the first day of the new Ham shack in the Brickhouse Studio.While Randy was there, he of course recorded some video and shared it with everyone else. There was also a special event station on the air for the open house, which I talked about last week. I’m curious if anyone who reads me, also worked the special event? If you did, please share in the comments. I would love to hear how it went. But now, Lights! Camera! ACTION!

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 here on AmiZed Studios.

With the new opening of the TWiT Brickhouse studios, Leo Laporte, W6TWT is going to be hosting a special event station to celebrate the opening of the new studio, with the help a few area Hams.

Photo Courtesy of Leo Laporte – W6TWT

The Redwood Empire DX Association, who have been helpful in getting the new Amateur Radio station setup in the TWiT studios, will getting part of the special event station where visitors will be able to see the new studio and the classic Collins AM Broadcast station that will be on display and available for Hams to use 10am to 7pm on Saturday and 10am to 3pm on Sunday. The news release says each day, so I am assuming this is only for the special event. But I do remember Leo saying something about the station being available for other times, during an episode of Ham Nation. I’m sire someone will clarify this info.

The special event will use the call sign W6KB, but no word on specific frequencies to watch for the station, just that it will be on 40 and 20 meters in the afternoon and evenings. If any new info comes out, I would think it’ll show up on either Leo’s Ham Radio page or on the thread discussing this on QRZ.com.

Anyone who does make a contact with the station, can QSL direct to W6TWT, P.O. Box 1018 in Petaluma, CA. 94953 .

Wish I could work these, but I still don’t have HF and will be out of the loop for a couple days because of my other job in broadcast radio. But hey, I get to hang out with some real kick ass bands this weekend. So it’s not a total wash.

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 here on AmiZed Studios.