Handiham World for 5 May 2010

Welcome to Handiham World!

A new antenna goes up at Handiham headquarters

Dave gets ready to launch the tennis ball attached to a fishing line, which will be used to pull the antenna wire into the trees

Dave, W0OXB, and John, KC0UHY, compare notes as the project progresses

By Patrick Tice
[email protected]

As most of our regular readers and listeners know, the Handiham headquarters has moved from its long-time Golden Valley offices to a new location at Camp Courage near Maple Lake, Minnesota. We already had a vertical antenna at the new location, but we really felt that we needed a more versatile wire antenna that would be able to tune a variety of different frequencies. We settled on a 300 foot dipole fed with 450 ohm ladder line and a current balun. Coaxial cable from the balun takes the signal to the antenna tuner and to the TS-570 transceiver currently in place at our operating location.

As you can imagine, getting an antenna of that length up into the air can be quite a challenge. We had the advantage of some pretty tall trees from which we could support the antenna, and with some careful planning we were able to run the legs of the antenna out into some fairly clear spaces while still using these tall trees as supports.

Volunteers Dave Glas, W0OXB, and John Harvard, KC0UHY, had put up these “OXB Special” antennas before, so all I really had to do was follow directions and do as I was told. Dave directed the operation, as he is the real wire antenna expert. Not only had he ordered the materials and did some assembly ahead of time, he also procured the materials by getting the support of the Handiham affiliated Stillwater Amateur Radio Association, which paid for everything we needed. Dave also drove and brought the necessary tools. You could certainly tell that he had done this kind of antenna work many times before!

The weatherman cooperated on Tuesday, May 4. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the mid-70s. Although we had some wind, it wasn’t really more than a modest breeze and we were able to use the wind to our advantage in launching a tennis ball loaded with a couple of heavy lead sinkers as a lead for our fishing line. The tennis ball is launched using a slingshot like device that was donated to the Handiham program by volunteer and donor Bill Rouch, N6HBO. In order to get the tennis ball over some really tall trees, Dave cut a small slit in it and slipped in a couple of lead fishing weights. This gave the tennis ball enough mass to easily fly over the tallest branches. When all was said and done, the average height of this 300 foot antenna was probably close to 45 feet. That is really pretty good for an antenna of this length held up by trees.

We did some preliminary tests and then had to head back home to avoid getting stuck in rush-hour traffic. We will do some of the final work on the station later on when we receive the expected donation of an automatic antenna tuner from Eliot, KE0N. Do you see how volunteers, donors, and staff all work together to make a project like this possible? We are so grateful for everyone’s assistance. We couldn’t do it without you!

Eventually, we plan to use this new antenna on a second Internet remote base station. This will increase the operating capability by adding not only the second station but the ability to operate on the 160 m band and on the 6 m band. If this new antenna system works as well as expected, we may even consider upgrading the antenna system at the Courage North location, also adding 160 m and 6 m there.

Remote base operation will be an important part of our services in the years to come. Thank you for your support.

Patrick Tice, Handiham Manager
[email protected]

Handiham World for 28 April 2010

Welcome to Handiham World!

When did “anything goes” become acceptable?

blackboard with ABC on it

Today we are going to try something completely different. I want you to relax and close your eyes and empty your mind of all of the worries and details of what you are doing right now. Turn down the radio, turn off the television, and prepare to take a trip backward in time. Now, I don’t want to admit that I am “old”, but I have been an amateur radio operator for quite a few decades — since 1967, in fact. For me, this trip back in time will take me to those teenage years in the 1960s when amateur radio first appeared on my horizon and ultimately grabbed my attention with its promise of communications technology and cutting-edge connections to science and learning. These were the days of the great space race when science and technology were really cool things and everyone knows that teenagers go for the “cool” stuff. Gee, today I’m not sure the word cool is even so cool anymore.

Some of you will be older than I am and will be able to remember World War II and the exciting and interesting role communication played during those years. Others will be younger but will still be able to remember a time when they became fascinated with amateur radio and its promise of civic engagement in public service communications, new and exciting technologies, and a great way to make new friends.

One thing that will be common to all of us traveling backward in time today and remembering those first days of fascination with amateur radio will be a good feeling about those who helped us to learn amateur radio and the civil and friendly nature of the amateur radio service. Sure, there may have been more rules about Morse code and keeping a log book, but the more important consideration was the fact that the amateur radio bands were by and large a safe place for a teenager to hang out, for a kid to learn basic electronics, and even for a grandma to work DX.

In fact, no matter how old you are you can probably remember kindergarten or your first few grades of elementary school and how you learned basic civil behaviors like sharing, being polite, not talking while others are talking, and what is and what is not appropriate language and behavior. Your teacher would certainly not allow you to wear a cap in the classroom or get up and start running around during a history lesson. If one of your classmates let loose with a swear word, even a mild one, it would certainly result in a trip to the principal’s office and some sort of punishment. Oh, how we hated to stay after school on a sunny Spring day while the rest of our classmates headed out the school door to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

Can you guess where this little essay is going?

Well, I have to bring you back to today and reality. Yesterday I was tuning around on the HF bands. Propagation has been rather poor these last few days and I was anxious to find out if there was something wrong with my station after I had been away on vacation for a couple of weeks. You never know; perhaps a feedline had gone bad or something had happened to the antenna system. Anyway, in the course of my travels up and down the HF spectrum I came across a conversation on the 20 m band. As is often the case, I could hear some of the stations on the frequency but not others. Listening for a while allowed me to find out whether propagation conditions allowed communication to the east and west coasts from my location in Minnesota.

It turned out to be a more or less informal roundtable net without a formal net control station. In this kind of a situation, stations just take turns and remember who is next in the roundtable discussion. It generally works pretty well in a small group situation where all of the stations can hear each other. Of course I would not consider entering this roundtable myself, because I could not hear at least two of the other stations, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to listen along for awhile to see if propagation conditions would change.

That certainly proved to make for some interesting listening.

One of the stations started to go on what I could only describe as a rant about former VP Al Gore and how terrible he is and what a liar he is, and on and on and on. Another station picked up on that theme and spiced it up with several derogatory words that I can only say would not be acceptable in polite company — and that certainly would have gotten him sent to the principal’s office for detention had he been in Mrs. Cunningham’s third-grade class.

Of course at this point my ear was glued to the speaker. How bad could this train wreck of a QSO possibly get? It wasn’t long before I found out.

The roundtable continued along these lines of character-bashing and complaining with nary a single positive thing to say. In due course, one of the stations started tearing into President Obama, saying, “I won’t even call him president; just Obama.”

But wait, folks — that’s not all. This poor guy got himself so worked up about how awful President Obama is that he dropped the proverbial “F-bomb”. Mind you, this is all going out on the air for anyone and everyone with a short-wave receiver to hear. No one in the roundtable group complained about this jeremiad and inappropriate language, at least as far as I could tell. It seemed like everyone in the group was like-minded, joining together in their celebration of stupid, boorish behavior.

Okay, so that’s bad language being used on the air. My wife and I both drive and since we are often in the car together, we observe other drivers and their behavior. We have developed a theory about bad drivers: “When they’re bad, they’re bad.” What this means is that when we see a driver failing to signal or wandering around the road while using a cell phone or some other careless behavior, it is also highly likely that that same driver will exhibit bad behavior across the driving spectrum. For example, that same inattentive driver is more likely to blow a stop sign if they fail to signal and wander back and forth across the driving lane. “When they’re bad they’re bad.”

This same concept applied to the guy in the roundtable who dropped the F-bomb while trashing the President. He went on and on and on talking and talking even though band conditions were changing and the other stations in the roundtable complained over the top of him that they were only getting every third word or so. An operator who has one egregiously bad habit is more likely to exhibit other undesirable and perhaps illegal behaviors on the air, such as failing to comply with identification requirements as set forth in Part 97. When they’re bad they’re bad.

As part of our ongoing operating skills review, I think we need to not only revisit the necessity to comply with basic station identification rules, but we also need to recall a time long ago when we were taught in elementary school to be nice to each other and play well together. Courtesy, respect, thoughtful consideration of other people’s feelings — all of these things are basic to a civil society and good communications skills. Please don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that no one should discuss politics or political figures on the amateur radio bands. What I am saying is that respectful civil language is called for at all times when we are using the shared resource of the amateur radio spectrum. Anyone could be listening. Furthermore, coarse, rude, or inflammatory language demeans and degrades the amateur radio experience for all of us — even for those who were participating in that ghastly roundtable on 20 meters. A coarsening of language pulls everyone down and makes it more difficult to have an honest discussion about any topic.

I don’t care what your politics are or what your religious or other personal preferences might be. When I first got started in amateur radio, I read and heard from others of the time that it was always best to stay away from topics like sex, religion, or politics while on the air. Of course times have changed. Commercial talk radio and cable television news channels cross over into territory where we don’t want to go. Bad language and insulting and demeaning comments along with sexual innuendo might have found their way into these other services, but they are still not welcome in the amateur radio service. If you want to talk about politics, there is no rule against your doing so. If you want to talk religion, you can do that as well. The thing to remember is that as an amateur radio operator you have an obligation — a duty, if you will — to maintain the amateur radio bands as a place for anyone to safely visit for a listen. Political discourse can be polite and civil. Name-calling and bad language will only ruin the bands for everyone else.

So that is my operating skills lesson for today. Think before you speak and always be polite and civil even when you disagree with someone else. Share the bands and remember that children or newcomers to the short-wave bands may be listening anywhere and at anytime. Always be kind and helpful.

And won’t you please use your callsign? Use it every 10 minutes during a conversation and at the end of a series of transmissions to comply with the legal requirements, but use it even more than that to help avoid confusion about who is talking and when. When I teach the Technician class for my local radio club, I tell these new hams to be, “Use your callsign often — you won’t wear it out.”

Patrick Tice, Handiham Manager
[email protected]

Handiham World for 21 April 2010

Welcome to Handiham World!

Did you miss us last week?

Did you miss us last week?

Image: Pat, WA0TDA, in the ham shack

Your weekly Handiham World E-Letter and the Friday audio notification were on holiday at the very same time that I was on Spring break. What a coincidence that was, eh? I am grateful for our volunteers who still help us to maintain continuity in the Handiham program even when paid staff are out of the office for one reason or another. Volunteers quite simply keep things running behind the scenes as they work with those who need text read into audio format, tapes made and sent out, or a friendly phone call to explain a learning concept or how to operate a radio. Volunteers who give us hands-on help with projects and equipment really make a huge difference in how we are able to serve our Handiham members. When Nancy or I, the Handiham program’s only paid staff, take vacation or have to attend meetings or training related to other aspects of our work, we do still get somewhat behind in our member contact and program administration duties. It can be a little frustrating to have so much work to do and so little time to get it all done. If it weren’t for the volunteers, the Handiham program would never have survived for all of these decades — since 1967. We are so grateful and appreciative for all of the hard work our volunteers do every day.

Thank you, volunteers!

Patrick Tice, Handiham Manager
[email protected]

Camp Courage to go on the air with a new repeater system

Icom IC-706M2G transceiver showing 145.23 MHz on the frequency display

Image: ICOM 706 Mark 2G displaying the new repeater frequency of 145.23 MHz

Can you believe it? Handiham Radio Camp begins exactly one month from today, on May 21. As part of our preparations to build a solid amateur radio presence at Camp Courage, our new location near Maple Lake, Minnesota, we are ready to install a 144 MHz repeater that will be on the air 24-7, available not only during the week of camp but all the rest of the year, each and every day. Not only that, but the repeater will be Echolink-enabled. That will provide a valuable resource to any amateur radio operator living or traveling near Camp Courage.

We chose 2 m for several reasons. Many of our Handiham members already have 2 m handheld radios and can bring them to camp. A handheld radio will work perfectly at low power because the repeater will be right at camp and very easy to access. Another very practical reason is that a couple of years ago we received the gift of a used repeater. It needed some repair, and thanks to our volunteer Claire Robinson, K0CJ, we got it in excellent working order. It wasn’t actually put on the air because we didn’t really have a place for it. However, we did get it prepared to go on the air using a pair of 2 m frequencies that is shared and unprotected for purposes of repeater coordination here in Minnesota. Several weeks ago volunteer Don Rice, N0BVE, was helping me with another project at our new headquarters office and I showed him the repeater. Don has taken the initiative to locate the necessary repeater parts such as a duplexer so that we can get the repeater on the air prior to radio camp next month. Dave, N0KP, donated a tone board and tuned the duplexer. There was still the question of an antenna, and Matt Arthur, KA0PQW, has led an effort to procure a new 2 m antenna so that we can do the project right. Several donors have stepped up to the plate to help us with the cost of the antenna, and I will write more about them and the project later on, once we have done the installation. I will also have some photos to share with you.

This new repeater system is not intended to be a wide-area repeater, and the signal will probably not exceed a 20 mile radius from the transmitter. However, reception will be rock-solid at radio camp and the nearby surrounding area. Furthermore, the availability of Echolink on this repeater will make it a fantastic resource that will allow us to stay in touch with Handiham members who cannot make the trip to radio camp but who want to talk with their friends during radio camp week.

In recent years we have had a repeater system and a simplex Echolink node available at radio camp, thanks to Lyle Koehler, K0LR, and Don, N0BVE. These systems operated only during radio camp week and had to be set up and taken down for every camp session. This added to the work that we needed to do during every camp session. The addition of a permanent repeater system will be a welcome improvement to our new headquarters location at Camp Courage.

The new repeater will operate on a frequency of 145.23 MHz with a negative offset and a tone of 114.8 Hz. The antenna will be a Hustler G7 with a gain of seven DB.

Handiham World for 07 April 2010

Welcome to Handiham World!

Media Hit: NPR reports that ham radio is experiencing a surprising and healthy growth

Media Hit:  NPR reports that ham radio is experiencing a surprising and heathy growth

Image: Phil Temples, K9HI, operates on the HF bands at a recent Handiham Radio Camp session.

We consider any mention of ham radio on a network like National Public Radio to be a real media hit! NPR is reporting that far from being a fading 20th-Century technology, ham radio is instead experiencing healthy growth. The story appeared on the NPR network’s “All Things Considered” afternoon show on April 5, 2010.

There was some interesting listener feedback today – we heard one fellow who took the story to task for not including a mention of amateur radio’s role in emergency communications. You will also find many interesting comments on the NPR website.

HF band conditions remain generally poor as solar wind buffets ionosphere

HF band conditions remain generally poor as solar wind buffets ionosphere

Image: SOHO solar view as of 7 April 2010.

Spaceweather.com reported last Monday that a solar wind struck Earth’s magnetosphere at approximately 0800 UT and sparked the strongest geomagnetic storm of the year. The event registered 7 on the K index scale.

The ham radio HF bands remain in exceptionally poor shape, with widespread outages. Aurora activity is continuing. Strange whistling sounds are being heard on the HF bands, and usually reliable net frequencies have been nearly wiped out by poor propagation and noise.

One Handiham Remote Base user reported that the station wasn’t working right – he could only hear noise. Of course not all of us have experienced the effects of a widespread solar wind and the resulting poor HF conditions. This morning the Remote Base was checked on 75m, and stations are being heard somewhat better than they were in the past two days.

Today’s Spaceweather.com reports: “NOAA forecasters estimate a 45% chance of geomagnetic activity and a 10% chance of severe geomagnetic storms around the Arctic Circle during the next 24 hours. The source of this activity is a fast and gusty solar wind stream that has been blowing around Earth for two days.”

More at: Spaceweather.com.

FCC loses in case regulating Internet service providers

FCC loses in case regulating Internet service providers

Washington Post: Comcast on Tuesday won a legal challenge against the Federal Communications Commission, in a ruling by a federal court that undermines the agency’s ability to regulate Internet service providers. For more information, visit the Washington Post online.


April Events by N1YXU

April Events by N1YXU

As you look through the events page for this month, you will notice there are quite a few activities. I confess my bias in the “Editor’s Pick of the Month” since a good friend of ours is one of thirteen operators who are currently in Iraq. Check out the details, and be sure to listen for them.

Welcome to Spring! Get on the air and have a good month with amateur radio. Until next month….

Regards,

Laurie Meier, N1YXU
[email protected]

Read the Events at handiham.org.

Nets and Emergency Communications Review by WA0TDA

Nets and Emergency Communications Review by WA0TDA

Photo: Patrick Tice, WA0TDA, in his ham radio shack.

Nets & Emergency Communications – second in our series of an operating basics review.

By Patrick Tice
[email protected]

This web outline is based on a PowerPoint presentation that I use to teach these concepts to prospective new hams who have enrolled in the Technician Class course. We are presenting it here because the skills and terms related to nets and emergency communications are so basic to good operating that we can all do with a review. Read the rest on handiham.org, or listen to the audio version.

Handiham World for 31 March 2010

Welcome to Handiham World!

Before we do anything else, I’d like to share last week’s Midwinter Madness Hamfest with our readers. After that, we have a special edition of the Handiham World that is dedicated to operator improvement.

Midwinter Madness Hamfest Photos

Midwinter Madness Hamfest Photos - wide angle view of crowd
Our thanks to the Robbinsdale ARC for table space at Midwinter Madness, the closest Hamfest to Handiham Headquarters! Photo credit: RARC.

Pat, WA0TDA, & Matt, KA0PQW pose at the Handiham table.
Pat, WA0TDA, and Matt, KA0PQW pose in front of the Handiham table. Photo by Susan Tice.

Susan Tice and Jasper at the Handiham HQ office, getting ready for the hamfest.
Susan Tice and Jasper get ready for the hamfest by helping to pack the booth equipment at Handiham Headquarters. Asked if it was a tough job, Jasper said, “ruff”. WA0TDA photo.

Bob, W0LAW, ARRL MN Traffic Manager at the ARRL table right next to us.
Bob, W0LAW, ARRL Minnesota Traffic Manager, mugs it for the camera at the ARRL booth, right next to the Handiham booth. WA0TDA photo.

Now, to our special feature: Communicating with other hams: It’s all about exchanging information.

Okay, I’ve had it with bad communications and bad communicators. It’s time to teach some “elementary” ham radio. In a special three-part series, we are going back to our Technician Class studies to review some communications basics. To help us, we are taking the information from my teaching notes – the very same notes I use to teach in my own local club’s Technician course. We can all do with some reminders of what constitutes the basics of amateur radio communication.

Ready to review the basics? Good! Let’s get started.

The basics

Start with callsigns: My callsign is WA0TDA.

Every other station has one, so you will use both of them to initiate a contact:

“W0ZSW, this is WA0TDA”.

Identify!

Use your callsign.

Speak clearly & slowly.

Use phonetics when conditions make hearing difficult.

Position your microphone correctly.

Repeat (or ask for a repeat) of the information as necessary.

When you are done talking… (Read more on the Handiham website, or listen to the audio podcast.)

Handiham World for 24 March 2010

Welcome to Handiham World!

drawing of a tree with branches

Recently we talked a bit about how to put some logic into your decision making when you are comparing equipment or antenna performance. The topic was the venerable A-B test, using a two-way switch that could be connect first one antenna, then another. The idea behind this kind of testing is to eliminate as many variables as possible so that we are really just comparing the two things that we want to compare. After all, using separate transceivers (each one connected to its own antenna) puts into play the extra variable of radio performance when what we really want to do is compare one antenna to another one. It makes much more sense to use a single radio and an A-B switch with the common side connected to a single radio and the switched outputs each connected to separate antennas.

Now I would like to introduce you to another related concept to help you work your way through troubleshooting. It is called a “decision tree”. A decision tree gets its name because it branches out much like a tree. From the main trunk, let’s say there are two large branches. From each of those branches there are two more, and so on. At the base of the tree it is easy to see just the trunk, but high up in the air atop the tree there are thousands of branches. The concept of the branching tree can help us to solve problems with our electronic equipment. Decisions must be made logically and empirically, beginning at one point where the symptom of the problem presents itself and is easy to see, much like the trunk of the tree. Sometimes there may be many, many possible causes for that very same symptom — all of these possible causes are represented by the many branches at the top of the tree. If we look at the top of the tree, we will see a confusing collection of branches, or possible causes to our problem. The idea of the decision tree is to start at the trunk with the most obvious symptom and follow the branches outward and upward until we arrive at the single twig at the top of the tree that is the cause of our problem.

Now, let’s see how this works with a problem that most of us have encountered with our radios.

Let’s say that we go down to the ham shack in the basement and turn on the HF radio. Oddly enough, nothing seems to happen; no sound comes out of the speaker. Of course with a problem like this there can be many possible causes. Putting the idea of the decision tree to work for us can save time and effort as we work our way logically toward a solution to the problem.

1. Did the radio power up?

If the answer is yes, proceed to number two.

If the answer is no, we follow this branch:

Is the power switch in the on position?

If the answer is no, turn on the power switch and your problem is solved.

If the answer is yes, you now have another branch to follow:

Is the radio getting power from the power supply?

If the answer is no, you need to follow another branch:

Is the power supply is turned on?

If the answer is no, turn on the power supply and the power is now available to the radio and you may proceed to operate normally.

If the answer is yes, you are off to the next branch:

Is the power supply plugged into a live AC outlet?

If the answer is no, you need to plug it in or find another outlet that is live, then proceed to operate normally.

If the answer is yes, you need to check the fuse or circuit breaker in the power supply and proceed along a line of determining a problem with the supply rather than the radio.

2. Is the audio gain turned up high enough to hear sound?

If the answer is no, turn up the gain and proceed to operate normally.

If the answer is yes, you are off to the next branch:

Is there any sound at all when you listen closely, such as a weak hiss?

If the answer is no, you will want to follow a line of checking external speaker connections, whether headphones have been left plugged in by mistake, and so on. Several more branches can be followed here – you get the idea.

If the answer is yes, you will want to follow several other branches that will include checking the RF gain control, the antenna connection, any tuners or other accessories in the feedline, and so on.

As you can see, a decision tree can be quite long and branching, even for a simple problem. However, the idea is to begin logically with the things that are easiest to check and most likely to be the cause of the problem. It certainly wouldn’t do to immediately run outside and check the antenna if you didn’t hear sound from the radio. Audio gain controls that are turned down, squelch controls that are turned up too high, RF gain controls that have been turned way down, or an antenna switch that is in the wrong position are all more likely causes of the problem. Furthermore, you wouldn’t want to start working on repairing your transceiver if a circuit breaker in your house’s main breaker box has tripped, causing the outlet into which your power supply is plugged to be dead. It is all about following a logical, thoughtful path in problem solving.

Believe me, this is not something that new ham radio operators — and even some with extra class licenses — always know how to do. Logical troubleshooting is something that can be learned by experience. Sometimes equipment repair manuals include graphical decision trees to help technicians working at the service department proceed through the diagnostic process and a logical and efficient manner. These days, software can help us make decisions as well, but I would like to see our Handiham members be as independent and self-sufficient in troubleshooting basic problems as possible. At the upcoming Minnesota radio camp we will be considering how to solve basic problems in the ham shack. Practicing this skill makes us all more independent and ultimately better operators. After all, amateur radio is a technical activity, and we should be able to do some basic troubleshooting.

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice, [email protected]

Handiham World for 17 March 2010

Welcome to Handiham World!

Pat, WA0TDA, in green for St. Patrick's Day
Photo: Pat, WA0TDA, with microphone, sports a green T-shirt, green beads, and a green screen background for St. Patrick’s Day. Hey, if Chicago can dye a river green, we can do this!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone. This is the first time in my memory that the Irish holiday has fallen on the same day as our weekly newsletter and podcast, so why not just use it as an excuse for a fun way to start our weekly column?

I’m not sure if there are any special ham radio events associated with St. Patrick’s Day, but I do know that there are plenty of parades and other civic events. St. Patrick’s Day is always a big deal in cities like Boston, Massachusetts and St. Paul, Minnesota where there are historical Irish roots. Any time you have a parade or civic event there is an opportunity for amateur radio support in the form of communications. While I know of no amateur radio support for parade activities during today’s activities here in the Twin Cities, amateur radio volunteers do support plenty of other worthwhile civic events. Marathons, bicycle races, walkathons, and other types of parades or large events that cover considerable territory are all candidates for amateur radio communications support.

These types of activities are similar in many ways to the volunteer work that amateur radio operators do in emergencies. However, there is a difference in that many of the communications in an event are much more routine and may be structured in a more informal way than communications in an emergency where a command structure is set up under very specific guidelines. In a public service event, which is what these non-emergency activities are called, your radio club may decide to participate as a group and call for volunteers. It always helps when public service communicators have some training and experience, but public service communication may be a less demanding place to get started than in emergency communications. It all depends on the event and the person in charge of communications. Some events are so large and complicated or cover so much territory or have potential for generating emergency response-style situations that they may be looking for volunteers who are more familiar with a structured incident command system. On the other hand, some events are more easily managed with semi-formal organization and communication. While good operating practice is essential for either, you may want to get your feet wet by helping with communications at one of these smaller events in the realm of public service.

Good communications basics will include knowing how to identify your station, including identification by location if that is the most efficient way to identify and it is what your group has agreed to do. This is called a tactical identification. Of course you do still have to use your FCC-issued callsign periodically as specified by Part 97 rules. A tactical identification might be something like “rest stop five”. At the end of a series of transmissions and every 10 minutes you do have to use your regular callsign. There are many other things to learn about public service communications that will help you learn “on the job” as you gain experience and work toward being a capable volunteer in ARES, able to handle more demanding formal communications within an incident command structure.

In many ways, amateur radio is like other learning activities. If you were to have to learn calculus or how to speak Chinese, you would not begin with differential equations or interpretation of ancient Chinese texts. You would instead choose to begin at, well, the beginning! You would start with simple concepts and easy tasks, practicing and learning incrementally, gaining knowledge every time you study or practice. Amateur radio is a huge and complicated activity when you consider all of the different licensing classes, the many different types of technology, multiple modes of operation, and extraordinary array of on the air activities. No one expects you to get your first license and be able to do everything — and that goes for being a public service communicator. You need to start at the beginning, perhaps volunteering at an event like a St. Patrick’s Day parade. Don’t forget to wear green, and a reflective vest if you are on the parade route.

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice, [email protected]


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