Hammy New Year

HAPPY HAMMY NEW YEAR

Well it sounds kinda corny but what the heck eh!!!

73bob

Its been way too long…

Today I remembered that I spend too much time working for my hobby rather than working on my hobby…

FT817 and QRP Tuner in insulated bag for winter operations

Today I managed to take my Ft817 out for some fresh air.  Last time I got outside with a radio that was not my dual band handheld was late November which was just before I took on the “Social Media Gig”  with RAC….

Well 30 days, 150 RACTWEETS  and 19 RAC Blog postings (not to mention my 27 postings here) later I finallly get back outside which means that today…  We get to talk about playing Radio in the great outdoors (for a change)…

On the spur of the moment aided by the fact that one of my 7ah sla batteries had almost a full charge I decided to head out…   I took my FT817 along with the PAR Endz Fed 10-20-40m QRP end fed antenna.  You might remember me talking about this Gem back when Erika (my daughter) bought it for me for my Birthday.  I did manage to get it outside once to test it out but had not really had the time to use it since…

Today I made the time…

With it being a beautiful Sunny Day and the daytime Temps sitting just at 0 deg C or 32 deg F it was a perfect day to head over to the ball diamond at Hutton Park and set up.  The City has removed the picnic table but the bench in the dugout is great and I use the backstop as a support for one end of the antenna and a cooperating tree for the other

The nice thing about this park in the Wintertime is that there is no outdoor rink and so its easier to set up radio gear there without worrying about kids getting skate blades tangled up in coax…

The drawback about this park is that as there is no rink there is no rink shelter which means no washrooms or heated area to thaw out fingers, toes and radios…

Anyway after taking a few minutes to listen I landed on the HF Pack Frequency for 20m (14342.5)   Suprisingly I heard no one and was having my doubts about the band condiditons which sounded ok before I left (checked from home) for the park or my antenna system as it really had never been tested…

Asking the question “Is this frequency in use?” got a reply that its wide open and go for it….

I quickly thanked the station for letting me go ahead and also gave my callsign.  I then asked for a quick report…  The station at the other end was Dennis KB0SFP who lives in Missouri.  Dennis was using an old Military Radio 20W output and a 7 foot whip…

I got the above photo from Dennis’s QRZ Site.  Not sure if its the radio he used for today’s contact…

He was pretty good copy in Ottawa and according to the QRZ.com website the distance between us was about 1035 miles which ain’t too shabby for my 5w and his 20w concidering the antennas we both were using…  I was happy…

The band shifted a bit after that and I gave up with 20m.  I had a decent SWR on 17m as well so I thought I would give that a try…  Heard lots but I could not break the pile ups…

After that I dropped down to 40m and listened as W1AW was operating calling CQ with some new operators who were visiting from North Eastern PA.  If you thought the pile ups were rough on 17m you should of listened on 40m…  Anyway I tried breaking the pile up for almost 30 minutes before I gave up… No luck…  The sun was also starting to drop down and as the sun drops so does the tempeture…

At this point I decided to pack the gear up and drop the antenna and head home…  So anyway no rare DX but an hour or so away from the keyboard which made it enjoyable…  Thanks to Dennis for the contact which made it all worth while…

73bob

Wisconsin likes Amateur Radio Operators

Seems strange that every now and again one posting on a topic will suddenly open the flood gates so to speak…  As we here in Ontario and New Brunswick stand around speechless by the lack of respect shown to us by our respective goverments when it comes to the Driving while Distracted laws….

The following comes to us courtesy of the Digital Journal:

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On December 1, 2010, Wisconsin joined 30 other states prohibiting a person from driving any motor vehicle while composing or sending an electronic text message or an electronic mail message.

December 30, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ — On December 1, 2010, Wisconsin joined 30 other states prohibiting a person from driving any motor vehicle while composing or sending an electronic text message or an electronic mail message. The law amends Wisconsin Statute Section 346.89 by expressly declaring that texting while driving is prohibited. Previously, the inattentive driving statute stated only that “No person while driving a motor vehicle shall be so engaged or occupied as to interfere with the safe driving of such vehicle.”

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The new law also prohibits using a computer to send messages while driving, in addition to using cell phones. The act specifically exempts emergency vehicles, ham-radio operators and the use of hands-free devices.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/191285#ixzz19clFVnvq

So at this time I say congrats to the Amateurs in Wisconsin for living in a State that appreciates the efforts of the Amateur Radio Community.

I’m also wondering what the big difference is between Wisconsin and Ontario.  We are almost neighbors and our weather patterns are much the same…

What do you think???

73bob

Driving while Distracted… Deja vu

Today while checking my emails I found a link to this article from a New Brunswick Newspaper.  The article itself is from a letter to the Editor on the topic of Driving While Distracted as it relates to Amateur Radio.

As some of you are aware the Province of  New Brunswick has recently enacted a fairly stiff law that covers just about everything under the sun that you can’t do.

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You can follow the link to the New Brunswick Leglisation Here

Please take the time to read it over very carefully.  You thought we had it bad in VA3/VE3 Land.  At least Ontario Amateurs were given a 3 year exemption to get something like Bluetooth set up so we can operate handsfree.  The New Brunswick Bill gives only a limited exemption to those doing Search and Rescue activities.

It is interesting however how a Trucker flying down the road in his 18 wheeler can use his CB Radio but I can’t use my mobile HF Rig in the family car…

I’m hoping that is being looked at by the local Groups in VE9 when they try to get exemptions…

The Letter to the editor which you can read here was very well written and well thought out.  However the arguments that the Provincal Goverments are operating out of their jurisdiction as Amateur Radio is regulated by the Federal Goverment most likely won’t hold much water.  That did not work in Ontario and it wont’ work in New Brunswick.  I’m hoping that VE9 learns from the mistakes of VE3 and comes up with a better argument.

Remember the Provincial Goverments are not telling you that you can’t operate your radio in your vehicle…  They are telling you that you can’t operate your radio while you are driving your vehicle on a public road.  If you are a passenger you can CQ DX to your hearts content while mobile…

So far the winning argument seems to come from VE4 where the Amateur Community got groups that they support with communications to lobby the Manitoba Goverment on their behalf.  Remember the floods that normally hit VE4 in the spring???  So did the local EMO groups who depended on our communication skills.  They told their counterparts in the Province  that we need them, we need their equipment and their skills.  In Manitoba thanks to some smart lobbying our skills are appreciated and acknowledged with an exemption to their Driving while Distracted laws.

It also seems that Provinces that seem to have more than their fair share of disasters or the potential for disasters seem to like us.  Manitoba with the floods, BC with the threat of Quakes and the Swiss Air Disaster in Nova Scotia seem to stay in peoples memory.

Ontarios Ice Storm and power blackout seemed to have escaped the Goverments memory at least for now.  But part of the problem was we did not properly remind them.

Ontario still has some time to rally the troops and get some better exemptions and in New Brunswick I hope the Amateur Community has learned something by the results of the provinces before them.

73bob

 

Thinking of ordering from the States?

For those of you who might have something left over after the Christmas Shopping Frenzy and also did not stand in line for hours on Boxing Day to get the biggest deals….

From today’s (December 28 2010) Ottawa Citizen Newspaper comes the news that our Canadian Dollar is at parity (or damn close) to the American Dollar…

What this means is that most likely if you are going to be buying any mid size to big ticket Radio item till the Canadian Dealers change prices to reflect the differences in the dollar you could get some really good deals on gear in the states.  This most likely will be a short time gain as last time the Canadian Dollar dropped they price changes seemed to be about a week behind the changes…

Personally I would just say shop Canadian and give the Canadian Retailer a chance to match the American Prices which they sometimes do but…  In these days the $$$ is tight and unfortunately you gotta go where the deals are…

Lets comparison shop for a minute…

The Yaesu VX8-gr which I happen to own (bought from Radioworld at the Carp Hamfest) is selling today for $339.95 at the Universal Radio Website.

If you switch over to the Radioworld Website the same radio is retailing for $415.00.

(Prices were accurate as of 1300hrs EST on December 28 2010)

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So given the Dollar is about as close to Par as you can get if you order on line from the States it will cost you $340.00 plus shipping a few days delay while the package clears customs.  Depending on how they ship it there also could be some brokerage fees.  If you order the same item from Canada it will cost you $415.00 plus shipping and taxes.

The last time I ordered anything from Universal Radio I did not pay anything for Brokerage Fees (shipped by USPS) and I don’t believe there was any taxes on the item. It did take a few days to make it to Ottawa.  I have heard some horror stories about having to pay brokerage fees when they ship by Courier or Parcel Delivery Sevice.

The last time I ordered from Radioworld I did pay Canadian Taxes on the item and the shipping was overnight.

There is something to be said for the security you get from ordering from a Canadian dealer however.  Knowing that you package should be there overnight and the fact that if you need to get something fixed under warranty  all you do is send it back (no custom papers necessary) and the repairs are done fairly quickly and its back to you again.  I remember when my FT817 blew the finals many years ago.

Saturday morning my non functioning FT 817 arrived in Toronto…Monday morning I got an email from Radioworld Service telling me the finals were blown and they would be replaced under warranty.   Thursday morning my repaired radio arrived at my place and on Thursday afternoon I was in the park making contacts…  Now thats good service!!!

So as you can see there are some benefits from shopping on either side of the border….  I guess your circumstances will determine how you spend you money but read the following article and at least you will be informed when you make your purchase…

Loonie hits parity with U.S. dollar.

If the Canadian Dealers react fast enough now that the Canadian Dollar is rising then the incentive to buy Canadian is there…

Thanks to the Ottawa Citizen for the excellent article…

73bob

Revisiting ECHOLINK

As a few of you know back in 2006 for a few months I sponsored the ECHOLINK Node VA3QV-L which was operating on the VE3TWO (Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club) Repeater Frequency of 147.300 (+).  The idea of the node was to see how many people would use it to link back into our Club Repeater and say HI to us while they were out of town.

It was a fairly simple setup consisting of a Rigblaster Nomic interface, a Yaesu FT2400 2m mobile radio along with a simple JPOLE antenna (10 foot mast) and a power supply strong enough to run the radio at the 5w setting.  The computer was an old desktop that was strong enought to run whatever version of windows that it had on it along with the ECHOLINK Software…

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Its main purpose was to see if there was the interest in such a service and if there was then the Club would set things up and run it themselves.

I ran the Node for about 4 months and then the Club took over the project which let me use the same equipment without the ECHOLINK Software as an APRS station once I had configured the AGWPE and UI View to work with the Rigblaster interface and the desktop.  This carried on for years until I replaced the Desktop with the Dell Laptop I am still using as the shack computer now…

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As you know the Dell although its getting tired has been operating on APRS as VA3QV for a few years now and doing great…  With the arrival of my new Android Smart Phone (as it has an ECHOLINK APP) I decided to get my old ECHOLINK Node of VA3QV-L back up and running just incase the need ever came up that I would want to link into my node from my Droid or from my Netbook using my Internet Stick.

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Right now the link radio is set up on 146.550 while I do the testing but its not on unless I am sitting there watching it while I am trying to get the configuration correct.

So far I am pleased by my attempts.  I have been able to get the software to key up the radio and even more importantly able to off key the radio.  From the Droid to the computer to a vhf handie being used as a monitor the audio levels seem to be fairly good.  From the vhf handie to the computer to the droid the audio levels seem to be be a bit high and so far I have not been able to get them set correctly yet.  Lowering the audio levels at the sound card and also lowering the volume on the radio has not seemed to fix it yet.  Its only a matter of time till everything gets set up right

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I wish I could remember how I did this 7 years ago…  Perhaps it will come to me…

More on how this works out…

73bob

Christmas Greetings…

73bob

 

Track Santa via NORAD

Just in case you are sitting in the shack with your kids or grandkids today and they ask you about where Santa is right now…

Click on the picture of Santa on his sleigh (below) and you be whisked away to the NORAD Computer system where you can show your loved ones where Santa is

Click on the above picture to go to the NORAD site that tracks Santa

Merry Christmas

73bob

To my Readers… Merry Christmas from VA3QV and Family

I just don’t feel like saying “Happy Holidays”…. Its not a holiday….  Its Christmas…  I was raised to believe in the miracle of Christmas and to be honest after 56 years I’m not about to change now…

I am not forcing my beliefs on anyone else… and I don’t mean to offend… and if you don’t believe… then please accept my best wishes anyway….

I wrote the following for a column I used to write for the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club Newsletter called the Rambler…(My column was called “Ramblings”)  way back in December 2005.  I was club president that year.   It describes an event that occurred around the mid 1990s (I can’t find my old log books) but still holds true today….

“Try and find the time on Christmas Day to check into a couple of the HF nets on 20m. One of my best Christmas’s ever (as an amateur radio operator) was while waiting for the turkey to come out of the oven I managed to sneak into the shack and spin the dial. On the Maritime Mobile Service Net (14.300 USB) I heard a call for a Canadian Station. I jumped in and was able to make a contact with a VE0 (Marine Mobile) who asked me to contact his home and wish his family a “Merry Christmas” as he was not able to be home and had no Telephone Capabilities at sea.

Although I had no actual Phone Patch to use, a bit of improvising with a speakerphone did the trick and he was able to have an actual conversation with his loved ones.

Hearing the joy in their voices, as they were able to communicate made my Christmas.”

Back then SAT Phones were rare and expensive…

If you check out their website at www.ovmrc.on.ca and follow the links to their newsletter and go back from August 2005 to June 2006 you will see that even back then I was an opinioned SOB but that’s another story…

Two years ago now.  VE3GNA Glenn sent me this URL which I think is just fantastic and last year I asked you to visit it.  I checked and its still there up and running and so I ask again that you turn on your speakers or put on your headsets then click the url because its well worth visiting.  It brought a smile to my face and warm memories back to me so if it works on me… it should work on you…

Anyway before you click on the url…

On behalf of myself, my wife Liz along with my daughters Erika and Trisha and the family feline Saber (as you might remember “K9Toby” became a Silent Key this year)  I would like to offer my wishes to you and your families for a Very Merry Chirstmas and a FANTASTIC 2011.

I also hope that Santa brings you a new radio toy because I know all of you have been good…

The URL I would like you to click on is here

Merry Christmas and best for the New Year

73bob

From RAC VP of Field Services

The following came to me via the RAC Bulletin Service and although it is posted on the RAC Blog and the RAC Website I thought one more can’t hurt…

73bob

Severe Weather Alert – Maritimes
2010-12-21

Severe weather including heavy rainfall, severe winds and storm surge is threatening many towns and cities in the Maritimes. The weather
+system that is causing this disturbance is expected to remain in place for the next 48 hours. During this time all Amateurs are requested to +keep the National ARES Emergency frequencies clear and monitor when able in the event that assistance is required. Also, please pay +particular attention to traffic on local repeaters in the event that calls for assistance are heard.

Thank you for your cooperation

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UPDATED AT 2115 HRS WITH A LINK TO THE FREQUENCY LIST:

PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK TO GET A LIST OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY FREQUENCIES

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Doug Mercer  VO1DTM
Vice President Field Services
Radio Amateurs of Canada
P.O. Box 1042   Goulds
Newfoundland Labrador
A1S 1H2