AmateurRadio.com

Alan Wolke, W2AEW, posted a great video yesterday of a presentation on oscilloscope basics at the Ocean-Monmouth Amateur Radio Club in Wall Township, New Jersey. Thanks, Alan!

David Sumner, K1ZZ, of the ARRL presented a presentation “Amateur Radio Across the Pond” to the Norfolk Amateur Radio Club in the UK. I thought the hour-long presentation was quite enjoyable.

Just when you thought you’ve seen (nearly) everything….

If you use the Chrome browser (for best results, apparently), check this out:

http://morsecode.me

This feels like Groundhog Day… again. My old wireless router has given up the ghost and I’m looking for a replacement. I feel like these things just tend to go bad every few years. Maybe they overheat? I dunno.

I hopped over to Amazon and to check out the WiFi routers on their bestsellers list:

1. TP-LINK TL-WR841N
   Amazon wants a very reasonable $18.32 for this, including free shipping. Can I go wrong?
2. ASUS RT-N66U
   I’ve owned several ASUS products, including a netbook. They have been well built. This model router is a little pricey at $126.99.
3. NETGEAR RangeMax WNR1000
   Another popular brand, NETGEAR routers have always have a good reputation and the price is right at $24.99.

I’ve owned both D-Link and Linksys routers and have been happy with those, too. Maybe I should even go with the old stand-by Linksys WRT54GL which can be easily flashed with the latest DD-WRT firmware. Not built for speed, certainly, but generally reliable? Probably.

As a side note, I installed a Securifi Almond for a relative a few months ago. Despite over 5,000 Amazon glowing reviews saying it’s the bee’s knees, I thought it was pretty mediocre. Oh, it’s pretty and all. It has its own screen on the front and has a nice GUI, but that’s where the niceness ended for us. Some of his devices wouldn’t even connect to it. What I thought was going to be an easy experience ended up being very disappointing. We sent it back.

So, there are but a few of my options. If you’ve replaced your wireless router in the last year or so, would you offer me any thoughts about the good/bad of your experience? Would love some recommendations!

KK4JDO’s son made a Lego enclosure for the Ham It Up upconverter

Richard, KK4JDO, shared a proud dad moment on Reddit. His son created a Lego enclosure for his Ham It Up upconverter board.

The lesson? Sometimes the simplest solutions are right in front of you (or at least in your kid’s toy box)! 🙂

It’s almost the fourth weekend in June and you know what that means — Field Day 2014 is just around the corner!

Download: Field Day 2014 Information Packet

Are you planning to participate? If so, tell us about your operating plans in the comments below.

(And good luck!)

From Jeff, N2LXM:

On Friday June 20th, 2014 at 18:45 Zulu radio communications was established on 7.150 Mhz Upper sideband between the Marconi Wireless, Wellfleet station site in Cape Cod Massachusetts and the Marconi Wireless, Belmar Receiving Station, Wall Township New Jersey. Amateur Radio Station KM1CC had as a guest operator Princess Elettra Marconi, who was touring the Wellfleet site. This Forty Meter contact had been scheduled in advance to allow two former Marconi Wireless sites to make contact with Princess Marconi. Princess Marconi is in the United States touring sites which were owned and operated by her father, Guglielmo Marconi, and his wireless company.

Using the call sign WA2GM of the Marconi Chapter 128, of the Quarter Century Wireless Association the Ocean – Monmouth Amateur Radio Club made the contact. OMARC President Jeff Harshman, N2LXM was the control operator, with Steve Rosen KB2PGA, Quarter Century Wireless Association representative in attendance also in attendance were OMARC Members Bob KA8SAF and Alan KB2RR as witnesses.