Author Archive
Homemade Alcohol Stoves for Outdoor Radio Artisans
February 5th, 2010 | 
Author: I've been experimenting with homemade lightweight alcohol stoves, in particular this design called the Penny Stove. These are so cheap and easy to make, yet amazingly effective. All you need to make the main burner part is two soda cans. To make the pot support I used the bottom of a coffee can and some spouting screen, and I used aluminum flashing to make a windscreen. The fuel is denatured alcohol you get at the hardware store, but you can use about any high proof alcohol like grain (yeah, the stuff you drank in college that made you deathly ill) or your local neighborhood moonshine. (Note that denatured alcohol is poisonous. As with any household chemical, keep it away from children and animals.)
Here's the burner and the bottom pre-heating thingy. About a half teaspoon of alcohol is first poured into the pre-heating part on the bottom. Then the top part is inserted into the bottom and about one or two teaspoons of alcohol is poured into the center hole in the burner.
Here's the assembled unit with the penny on top. The penny acts like a regulator and will tilt up and release the pressure inside if it gets too high.
The burner inside the pot support.
The stove heating a cup of water for a late evening cup of tea.
What the flames look like in the dark.....
I haven't given exact directions on how to construct this as you can go to the Penny Alcohol Stove website and get that. The website seems to insist on a particular size can and some other very specific items. However, I found that the design parameters aren't too critical and it's fun to just build many prototypes and see what works the best. Just be sure to do your testing outside in a safe area and wear appropriate eye protection and take the necessary safety precautions. Take this lightweight little stove on your outdoor radio adventures instead of the typical larger stove and you'll have more backpack space for a linear amp or beverages. Have fun!
(Common sense isn't a requirement for an amateur radio license. As always, if you kill or maim yourself or others experimenting with this stove, it's your own darn fault. Standard disclaimers apply.)
Underground Radio
On NPR this morning I read this article entitled Texting Underground Can Save Lives and Caves . Sixteen year old Alexander Kendrick won the 2009 International Science Fair for inventing an extremely low frequency cave texting device. It's described as something like a "computer attached to a ham radio", transmitting data using low-frequency radio waves that can penetrate rock more easily than high-frequency transmissions like those in FM broadcasts.
Unfortunately it doesn't appear Alexander is an amateur radio operator as I couldn't find a license database entry. I'm curious as to the modulation he is using; this would be an ideal application for PSK and one could use existing amateur radio software.
Kudos to Alexander (PSSSST! You can connect a computer to a ham radio! Email me! :-)
14 Minutes 59 Seconds
The Emcomm debate lives on at the 'zed with this article entitled "READ THE ARTICAL BY WB6NOA IN CQ PAGE 46". It's apparently a pro-Emcomm (and spelling challenged) article, but in this debate I've honestly been disappointed in both sides. ARRL to a large extent created this Emcomm monster and now they're trying to put it back in its cage. The FCC can't seem to send a consistent message and has made some unreasonable interpretations of the rules, like the "you can't do any Emcomm for your employer even if you're off the clock" message. Rational voices with valid points about the questionable usefulness of amateur radio Emcomm in today's world get drowned out by the anti-Emcomm crowd that merely opposes all Emcomm for the sake of opposing it or because it's another way to get a dig in on ARRL.
The Emcomm debate has had its 14 minutes and 59 seconds of fame. It's time to move on. FCC, who cares if someone makes a few bucks while eating donuts and talking on the radio? If someone wants to blow their savings on a Dodge Colt Emcomm mobile, let's laugh at it and move on. Let's acknowledge that there is a place for some Emcomm in amateur radio, but it's not the only or the prime reason for amateur radio today.
Old Magazines
As part of a downsizing exercise I'm trying to clean out my shed of most of the QST magazines I have collected over the past 15 years. I was hoping to buy all the QSTs on CD from perhaps 1950 or 1960 to present to replace the paper copies and get several more decades to peruse when I'm an old codger vegetating in one of those assisted dying homes. I figured ARRL would offer the whole kit and kaboodle for perhaps $150 or $200. Going to the website I was dismayed to learn to get just 1995 to present would cost $310. OK, maybe I was a bit unrealistic, but how much does it cost to have an intern burn CDs from the already existing QST PDF database? Looks like I'll continue to have a couple hundred pounds of magazines in my shed for the foreseeable future. Oh well. If I ever lose my job I can use them to heat the house.
I also have a bunch of 73 magazines. No chance of ever getting them CD. NEVER SAY DIE! Not. What CQ magazines I had left I tossed out. I always thought it was a somewhat quirky publication, though I was a 73 fan at the time, so perhaps it was just me that was quirky.
I also found several years of Popular Communications from the 1980s. I loved this magazine when I was a teenager. I was a big pirate radio fan at the time and really enjoyed the spy stories. I almost threw the box out but decided to keep it. It's a window back into a time that we'll never see again when shortwave broadcasting was actually interesting.
SOS, XXX, and TTT
Last season while watching Deadliest Catch on Discover Channel, several times I heard the distress call "PON PON". Doing a little research (errr... a Google search) I learned that there are several distress signals beyond the venerable and familiar MAYDAY or SOS:
Distress signal: "MAYDAY" (CW: SOS)
Urgency signal: "PAN PAN" (CW: XXX)
Safety signal: "SECURITE" (CW: TTT)
I'm curious why we don't discuss or support the usage of PAN PAN (XXX) and SECURITE (TTT) in amateur radio?
FCC 2, Republic of Texas Pirates 0
In November I reported about Raymond Frank, the pirate radio station operator busted by the FCC who claimed that as "a citizen of the Republic of Texas" he wasn't subject to the laws of the United States or the Commission’s Rules. Frank allegedly operated a pirate radio station on 100.1 and 90.1 Mhz in Austin, Republic of Texas.
More Texans are attempting to use this problematic yet creative defense. Jerry and Deborah Stevens, who allegedly spewed RF on a frequency of 90.1 Mhz on your radio dial, also in Austin, the Republic of Texas, submitted a response to the Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) denying that the Commission has jurisdiction over this matter and requested that "the matter be dropped". Mr. and Mrs. Stevens claimed the station operated only within the boundaries of the Republic of Texas, and questioned the FCC's jurisdiction over intrastate communications.
The FCC answered the question very clearly, giving essentially the same answer as Mr. Frank received, with a serving of Section 301 garnished with a $10,000 fine. We assume that has to be paid in US dollars and not Texan Republic currency. Once again 90.1 goes dark in Austin.
Critical Thinking
As I have gotten older, while physically I'm not what I used to be, mentally and intellectually I think I have grown stronger. Looking back on the past decade I'm troubled that we've become a society that has abandoned critical thinking. Today with the Internet it's way too easy to have material that supports our already established beliefs and steadfast opinions available at our fingertips, and we're often all too eager to forward this information to others without giving the validity of it any thought. Critical thinking has been replaced with leading question asking, predetermined goal-oriented thinking, and political slacktivism.
This year one of my blogging goals is to engage in more critical thinking and present those views.
Below is a video on critical thinking that I think is excellent...
