AmateurRadio.com

The case of the disappearing weather objects.

Juilian G4ILO — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:10:00 +0000

I have just spent what seems like several hours trying to find out why my weather station data sent by Cumulus to the APRS network vanishes without trace. I have tried using the wxnow.txt method of generating APRS weather objects in APRSISCE and that d...

Neat Dayton Video

Larry W2LJ — Thu, 23 May 2013 02:13:00 +0000

by Joe K0NEB72 de Larry W2LJQRP - When you care to send the very least!

Some time on the radio

Mike VE3WDM — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:27:00 +0000

EI9KC (2nd from left) and Anthony Very rare during the week do I have time to get on the radio once all the things around the house are done I am beat... BUT this evening was an off night were I was able to power up the K3. It was 30m were things...

Will the mighty Phoenix arise?

Larry W2LJ — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:42:00 +0000

OK, by the time you read this, I guess this topic will be old news. The blogosphere and the Twitterverse have been abuzz with the news that “Heathkit is back!”

Channeling my inner Captain Picard, no one would like that "to be so", more than I. I loved Heathkit and cut my Novice teeth on building their kits. In addition to a ton of Amateur Radio gear, I also constructed various clocks, scanners and other pieces. My stereo system was just about entirely high-end Heathkit. The only parts that weren’t were the speakers and the turntable. And yes, knowing what the age of the average Ham is, I don’t want to see “What’s a turntable?” comments in the comments box! By the time Heathkit was coming to an end, I had qualified for, and was a member of their Master Builder’s Club. All told, I probably built about 25 or 30 pieces of Heathkit equipment for myself and for others.

But let’s not get all excited, running around at 100 MPH with our hair on fire. There’s a lot more to resurrecting the company other than an announcement on a Website and a new survey. This rumor has come up before, with a lot of anticipation and drooling, only to have our hopes dashed on the rocky shores of wishful thinking.

However, I was always of the opinion that if Heathkit could have just held on until the age of the Internet – well ………..wow! Heathkit e-mail reflectors, Heathkit user groups, Heathkit forums. I know that these Internet groups exist in various iterations today; but not for an active Heathkit. It would have been tremendous! (Elecraft squared?) If Heathkit does indeed make like a Phoenix and truly rises from the ashes this time, it will be in large part due to the Internet.

It's alive I tell you ....... it's ALIVE !!!!!!

On the other hand, if Heathkit hadn’t demised ……. Whither Elecraft, Sierra, Hendrick’s QRP Kits, Steve Weber, Small Wonder Labs and the myriad other fine kit companies and club kits that are or were out there? Would the “Maker Movement” be doing as well today? Was Heathkit’s demise part of the catalyst for the birth of these companies and the Maker Movement? I am guessing, that in the end, it will prove to be a symbiotic relationship. The aforementioned companies might not have come to see the light of day had Heathkit not gone out of business. On the other hand, Heathkit may owe its reincarnation due to exactly the success of those companies, whose efforts have revitalized the kit business. The “Circle of Life”, as it were.

Whatever happens, if Heathkit does come back as a force, don’t expect that “what was” will necessarily "be". Heathkit has a lot of credibility and good will in its name, but that only goes so far. Hams are a peculiar breed with outrageous expectations, at times. However Heathkit comes back (if it does at all), it will find the marketplace to be a totally different landscape from when they first left us. They will have to compete and will have to have a good business model. Relying solely on their name alone is not an option.

The good news, is that from the questions on the survey (which I completed yesterday), I think they realize that, to some degree.

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

A new weather station

Juilian G4ILO — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:17:00 +0000

Yesterday Olga and I set up a new weather station in the garden. It is a Nevada WH3080 SOLAR. It took a while for me to figure out how to put it together but I got there in the end with a bit of help from Olga (who took the radical step of reading the ...

Dayton’s Over – Time to Analyze

Bob KØNR — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:16:39 +0000

I made it to the 2013 Dayton Hamvention this year, after a multi-year absence. Due to that four-letter word known as work, I was not able to arrive until really late Friday night. That left all day Saturday and the half day on Sunday to partake of the event. I’ll start with the obligatory dig at Hara Arena, repeating my tweet: … Continue reading …

More QSLs

Juilian G4ILO — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:55:00 +0000

A new batch of QSLs arrived from the bureau today. This is a selection of the most colourful ones.

First bicycle portable trip of the year

Tim G4VXE — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:39:00 +0000

For one reason or another, I'm a bit late starting my bicycle portable trips this year. For one thing, the weather hasn't been great. I went to get my bike out a couple of days ago and found that it had a (not so slow) puncture. Amazon came to the res...

Lunchtime was grand

Larry W2LJ — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:07:00 +0000

Summer arrived with a vengeance in Central New Jersey. Temperatures in the 80s (29C) with the higher humidity and stickiness that accompanies it. But it made for a great opportunity to head out to the park for some QRPing during lunch break. Besides th...

Backpacking Your Radio

Mike AD5A — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:37:00 +0000

There are always questions about what is the best way to pack a radio to insure that it is protected and gets to and from the remote location in the same condition that it left home. I suppose the function for the answer to that question would be:

R = # of Radios
C = # of Containers
H = # of Hams

R x C x H = the number of ways to pack a portable radio.

Translation = a lot of ways to pack a radio

So here is my solution for carrying an ATS4B and an MTR to the top of the mountain, complete with power supply, ear phones and key.

Pelican 1020 and 1040 Case

I put a thin layer of spongy material on top to keep the radios from moving around in the box. So there you go, my main rig and a back-up.