Milford Amateur Radio Club

Ham Radio Mailing Lists, Blogs, and Podcasts

k8ji — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:59:02 +0000

Provided by: Dan, KB6NU

Mailing lists, blogs, and podcasts are good sources of ham info.

Whether you’re a newcomer or an old-timer, the Internet is possibly the best way to learn as much as you can about amateur radio. On the Internet, you’ll find many, many ham radio mailing lists, podcasts, and videos. In essence, these resources give you access to hundreds, if not thousands, of Elmers.

One mailing list that I always suggest to new hams is the HamRadioHelpGroup. The purpose of this group is to help “those who are interested in getting started in Amateur Radio or upgrading their license.” This mailing list has a good mix of beginners and experts, and most questions are answered quickly and correctly. One thing that I really like about this group is that the moderators do a good job of keeping the discussions on track, and will squelch them when they stray off topic or threaten to turn into flame wars.

In addition to the HamRadioHelpGroup, you might also want to join a more targeted mailing list. For example, if you’re interested in learning Morse Code (hint, hint), you might join the SolidCpyCW list. If you just bought a Yaesu FT-60 hand-held transceiver, you might want to join the FT-60 list. Chances are that no matter what your interest, there’s probably a mailing list to discuss that interest.

I’m subscribed to a lot of amateur radio mailing lists and could probably spend most of my day just reading and replying to them. In order to get the most out of them, without them taking away from my on-air time, I only read those threads that I am really interested in, and even then, I quit reading them once they have started to drift off-topic. I also un-subscribe myself from lists that cover topics that I’m no longer interested in.

Blogs, podcasts and videos
In addition to getting on a few mailing lists, you might want to read a few blogs and subscribe to podcasts. These are also great sources of information about amateur radio. I blog about amateur radio at www.kb6nu.com, and lots of hams find it a good source of information. You can find a list of other ham radio blogs that I’d recommend on my home page.

Podcasts are also a good source of information. One podcast that you might want to check out is the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Since 2008, Jerry, KD0BIK, has been producing PARP, and currently has more than 50 different episodes online. For other podcasts, consult the list on Jerry’s home page.

Finally, there are literally thousands of amateur radio videos on the net. On YouTube alone, there are approximately 32,000 of them. The American Radio Relay League has its own channel, but perhaps the most popular amateur radio video channel is the K7AGE channel. K7AGE has more than 6,200 subscribers and his videos have garnered more than 2.1 million views!

Whatever source or sources of information you select, remember to not let them take up too much of your time. Ham radio is about more than just reading, listening, or watching. It’s about doing!

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When he’s not answering yet another e-mail, Dan blogs about ham radio at www.kb6nu.com, teaches ham classes, and ragchews on 30m and 40m CW. You can e-mail him with comments or questions at cwgeek@kb6nu.com.

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WWII Submarine Museum Ships Weekend 2012

k8ji — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:21:47 +0000

Provided by: Ron Litt, K5HM – Event Coordinator

Museum Ships Weekend 2012 – June 2 2012 0000Z June 3 2012 2359Z . Activating IOTA NA-143 (Pelican Is.) Brazos Valley ARC will be operating from radio rooms of WWII Submarine USS Cavalla and Destroyer Escort USS Stewart from Seawolf Park on Pelican Is. in Galveston, Texas. We will be operating on 10-80 meters (SSB and CW). Be a part of living history as we commemorate the actions of these ships and crews. More information Special Event QSL with SASE via KK5W (QRZ.com).

Ron Litt, K5HM

Event Coordinator

Joe Rudi Trades His Baseball Glove For A Morse Code Key

k8ji — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:21:21 +0000

Hosts: Bob Heil (K9EID), Gordon West (WB6NOA), and George Thomas (W5JDX)

Former MLB player Joe Rudi tells his ham story, Bob visits the Southwest Missouri Amateur Radio Club, free CAD software for designing PC boards, and more.

Guests: Joe Rudi (NK7U), Amanda Alden (K1DDN), and Cheryl Lasek (K9BIK)

Download or subscribe to this show at http://twit.tv/hn.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Joe Walsh who wrote and plays the Ham Nation theme.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

People: Bob Heil

Ohio House Bill 158 Passes Senate Floor Vote

k8ji — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:14:48 +0000

Wednesday, April 25
Nick Pittner, K8NAP
State Government Liaison

Ohio amateurs? antenna legislation cleared a major hurdle today when H.B. 158 was approved by the Ohio Senate. The Bill has now passed, though with minor differences, in both the Ohio House and the Ohio Senate and our ultimate goal of having this legislation become law appears to be within reach. The two remaining steps are, first, consideration by the House of the amendments made by the Senate. Those amendments essentially deleted the 75? ?presumption? of reasonableness for tower height. The standard under the bill as passed is similar to that required by FCC regulation PRB-1, which is ?reasonable accommodation? and ?minimum practicable? regulation of antennas. Unlike PRB-1, however, the Ohio legislation places the burden of proof on any legislative authority denying a request for zoning variance to demonstrate compliance with the Ohio statute.

We believe that the House will be supportive of the changes made by the Senate, as both of the primary sponsors, Representatives Stebelton and Okey, have indicated their support and members often defer to the Sponsors when differences such as these arise. Following House reconsideration the next stop is Governor Kasich, who must approve the legislation in order for it to become law. Even that approval does not instantly transform the Bill into law, as a 90 day waiting period will be required before the law goes into effect. Notwithstanding all of that, today?s vote was a milestone in our nearly 5 year effort to secure passage of this legislation. We continue to believe that this legislation will make it easier for many Ohio amateurs to more fully enjoy their hobby as well as to prepare for and participate in emergency communications as the need arises.

73,
Nick Pittner, K8NAP
State Government Liaison

Milford Amateur Radio Club Hamfest (MARC)

k8ji — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:50:05 +0000

MARC Hamfest

Saturday June 16, 2012

8:00 AM TO 2:00 PM
Admission: $5.00 (Children under 12 admitted free)

The 22nd Annual Milford Hamfest will be held on a Saturday June 16th, 2012. This is a great Hamfest and location so make sure you bring your friends. There is always plenty of Tailgaing space for you to sell some of your “extra” equipment. Print out the flyer

Milford Hamfest – Twenty Second Annual

!!!Same Location as Last Year!!!

Eastside Christian Church
5874 Montclair Blvd, Milford, Ohio

Plenty of parking and tailgating space.

o Tailgating = $1.00 regardless of spaces needed.
o Inside Tables $5.00 (Requires an admission ticket)
o Commercial Vendors Invited
o Hourly door prizes plus grand prize drawing at end of the Hamfest!
o VE Exams – 9:00 AM – Walk-ins Welcome. Bring ID

For tables or additional information call Jim WB8RRR or email Jim

Directions to Hamfest

GATE OPENS AT 6:00 A.M. FOR SET-UP TALK-IN: 147.345 +

Contact Info:
Milford Amateur Radio Club
PO Box 100
Milford, OH 45150

DXpedition to Vanuatu 2012

k8ji — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:28:42 +0000

This DXpedition is currently operating.

An ODXG team of 6 amateur radio operators from Australia will once again be activating YJ0VK from Port Vila on Efate Island, Vanuatu from the 21st of April till the 5th of May.

Goal

To work as many stations as possible, have some fun and enjoy a bit of a break on a beautiful Pacific Island!

We plan to operate three stations as often as possible.

We gratefully acknowledge our logistical and financial supporters for all their assistance. If any organisation or individual would like to contribute to help alleviate our freight costs etc please use the link on our Support page. Any donation will be gratefully accepted.

Our main goal is that you are successful in making a contact with us while we are there.

73 and see you on air!

The YJ0VK 2012 Team

Source

DX Code Of Conduct

k8ji — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:15:55 +0000

Source: http://www.dx-code.org

I will listen, and listen, and then listen again before calling.

I will only call if I can copy the DX station properly.

I will not trust the DX cluster and will be sure of the DX station’s call sign before calling.

I will not interfere with the DX station nor anyone calling and will never tune up on the DX frequency or in the QSX slot.

I will wait for the DX station to end a contact before I call.

I will always send my full call sign.

I will call and then listen for a reasonable interval. I will not call continuously.

I will not transmit when the DX operator calls another call sign, not mine.

I will not transmit when the DX operator queries a call sign not like mine.

I will not transmit when the DX station requests geographic areas other than mine.

When the DX operator calls me, I will not repeat my call sign unless I think he has copied it incorrectly.

I will be thankful if and when I do make a contact.

I will respect my fellow hams and conduct myself so as to earn their respect.

Petition FCC to Void Antenna Restrictions

k8ji — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:57:05 +0000

I saw this posted on eHam.net ~ Steve, K8JI

Source: Tim Cotton (N4UM)

Over 900 signatures have been collected via an online petition at Change.org to ask the FCC to void existing outdoor antenna prohibitions made by developers and homeowner’s associations. The petition requests that “reasonable accomodations” be made for amateur antennas in HOA’s etc. Those of you who do not wish to submit formal comments on this matter (GN Docket 12-91) to the FCC may support the petition by a very simple process of going to the site listed below and signing the petition. It is important that the FCC receive your response(s) by May 17, 2012. Take a minute to make this effort to improve amateur radio. Encourage the hams you speak with on the air and in other online forums like this one to do likewise. If you have the time and interest to submit formal comments to the FCC on this matter, by all means do so.

Sign the Petition!

Ham Nation – Hams At NAB 2012

k8ji — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:10:39 +0000

Hosts: Bob Heil (K9EID), George Thomas (W5JDX) and Leo Laporte (W6TWT)

The Ham Nation invades NAB Show 2012 in Las Vegas.

Guests: Kirk Harnack (AE5DW), Tim Schwieger and Charles Wooten

Thanks to Joe Walsh who wrote and plays the Ham Nation theme.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Free Circuit Design Tools for Ham Radio

k8ji — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 19:53:10 +0000

By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU

About a week ago, I started looking for a schematic capture program so that I could easily generate some simple schematics for my upcoming Extra Class study guide. Since I use a Mac as my main computer, I first asked on the Ham-Mac mailing list if anyone knew of a good one. I got several recommendations, including:

– Diptrace,
– Eagle, and
– McCad

Eagle looked like a good choice, although several people mentioned that the user interface “left much to be desired.”

Then, I remembered that I had OmniGraffle, which is a general-purpose diagramming tool. Googling around, I found several sets of electronic symbol libraries that could be used with OmniGraffle. I installed them, and generated a couple of figures for the study guide section that discusses T-network and pi-network filters. It was a reasonably good solution to my problem.

A Web solution
A couple of days ago, though, someone on the local Maker mailing list, pointed me towards CircuitLab, an online schematic capture tool and circuit simulator. I haven’t tried the circuit simulation yet, but the schematic capture tool is really easy to use. It’s much easier to use for drawing circuit diagrams than OmniGraffle.

Another benefit is that it doesn’t matter what computer you’re using. Because it runs in a Web browser, it doesn’t matter whether that browser is running on a Mac or a PC or even a Linux box.

If you set up an account, you can save circuits to your “workbench.” To get you started, there are some sample circuits, such as the 555 timer circuit shown in Figure 1. There’s also some decent documentation and a forum where you can discuss circuits and get some help.

Finally, the price is right, too. It looks like using CircuitLab is completely free. I couldn’t find any pages that required payment.

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When not searching the Web for circuit design tools, you’ll find KB6NU working 30m CW and twittering away about his contacts. His Twitter id is @kb6nu. He would love for you to follow him there. If you don’t tweet, you can still read his blog at www.kb6nu.com.