Today (this morning ) I thought I would tell you about some changes in the shack along with update a couple of items I have previously blogged about….
The first change was the return of APRS to the VA3QV shack. I had loaned out my Yaesu FT 2400 which was the radio I used for packet/APRS out to a local amateur who needed a voice rig till he replaced one that was not functioning. I got it back last week and finally got around to re installing it and getting it back on the air. I use it at the 10w setting and the antenna is a larson 5/8w magmount antenna which is on my metal fence rail in the back yard. After checking the path it gets into 3 different digis in the Ottawa Area so all is good.
The 2nd change is the addition of a new michrophone to my Yaesu FT 847. I was given an audio mic on a desk stand and was told to have fun hooking it up.
Although not exactly as pictured its pretty close
A quick trip to a local electronics store got my PTT switch and a hunt through the junk box found a lenght of wire with the right connecter for the FT 847 on one end. About one hour with a multi-meter and a low power soldering iron had me on the air and getting great audio reports.
Now the great thing about this endevour is that first off it worked and for those of you who know me well I was able to make all the connections without smoking my fingertips… Bandaids and soldering usually go together in my shack and with this last project I was able to break the tradition.
The other change is that as I need the soundcard outputs of my dell laptop for the AGWPE Packet Engine Setup for my Packet /APRS installation I could no longer use my Dell Laptop for SKYPE. Starting today I am using my ACER Netbook in the shack for ECHOLINK and SKYPE and normally will be active on one or the other (SKYPE is first choice) whenever I am in the shack. Nothing against ECHOLINK but my daughters are not amateurs and so they can SKYPE me when they need something when they are out at work. On SKYPE I can be found as bob.sharp.VA3QV if I remember correctly.
On to the updates…
I did make it out yesterday to the Ottawa ARES meeting and was brought up to speed on the local happenings. The Groups other name is the Emergency Measures Radio Group and both names share the same website address at www.emrg.ca. I could tell you about all the things they are doing but if you visit the website you will be able to read it in more detail than I could of remembered to list here. One thing I will mention is that they have an excellent relationship with the City of Ottawa Office of Emergency Management who support EMRG by providing repeaters and repeater sites. EMRG currently has 4 VHF voice repeaters, 2 UHF Repeaters, one Portable Repeater on VHF along with a Packet Digi all set up at different Ottawa Fire Department locations across the City. Its nice to see the City supporting the ARES…
After the EMRG/ARES Meeting with the assistance of Rob VE3SJN I headed over to a local electronics shop and picked up what was needed to get the Desktop Mic connected up.
After droping off my briefcase after the meeting and the shopping trip Trisha and myself went over to a local high school for my H1N1 and Seasonal Flu Shot. Despite what was mentioned previously in the media I was able to get in and out within one hour and that was getting stabbed in both arms. One arm is kinda sore (the one that got the H1N1) but its not stopping me from moving and the other arm is fine…
If you remember my previous posting of 14year old vs Industry Canada there is an article in todays Ottawa Sun that concerns the topic. I’m not sure if this is old news (from the orignal item) or more of an update but I am very concerned that the father seems to be agreeing with the fact that his son is showing no respect for Canadian Law. Perhaps someone with a citation book and a badge should introduce them to the Radio Act. He was asked nicely to shut down because he was breaking the law and then refuses…
BREAK OUT THE TICKET BOOK AND WRITE HIM UP…
But then again why do we need laws anyway??? Now thats just my opinion but once your warned and then refuse to comply I concider it to be fair game…
Today I have already checked into ONTARS, the North Bay Net and the OVMRC 80M Pothole Net and am going to try for an afternoon of radio if I can get some Christmas Shopping done first…
73bob
Tags: amateur radio, amateur radio equipment, ARES, echolink, H1N1 Flu Shot, Ottawa ARES, Ottawa Sun Newspaper, Seasonal Flu Shot, SKYPE, Yaesu FT 2400, Yaesu FT 847
