AmateurRadio.com

The subject of this blog post (#occupyhamshack) relates to a new Twitter hash tag which started up a few weeks ago.  A Twitter hash tag is typically used within a Twitter Tweet or message and is commonly used as a search term.  Depending on the Twitter client you use, you can add columns which will automatically list any tweet showing the particular hash tag.  Other common amateur radio hash tags are #hamr #hamradio #arrl #dx #sota.  The hash tag #occupyhamshack was started by David Kozinn, K2DBK and it’s gained in popularity.  Check out David’s blog site here.

While social media is not a replacement for amateur radio, I’m pleased to see amateur radio gaining a large presence in social media circles.  I’m finding more and more hams becoming members of these various sites and the ability to share knowledge is becoming a power tool.  I also believe it is helping to introduce the magic of amateur radio through these media platforms. 

If you haven’t joined and participated in social media, I strongly encourage it.  You can follow me on the platforms I frequent by clicking the icons in the upper right-hand corner in the section titled “Follow Me”. 

Now go #occupyhamshack and get on the air…

Until next time…

73 de KDØBIK

Let me first start off and say that I believe something should be done to protect against piracy and to protect intellectual property (IP).  However, like many of you, I feel the current legislation of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) are the wrong way to go about it.  Actually, these are both very dangerous pieces of proposed legislation.  I encourage everyone to take action.

Websites like Google decided to place a black box over their Google Logo to show support against the SOPA and PIPA legislation.  Other sites like Wikipedia have decided to black out their entire site again as protest.    In both of these examples, Google and Wiki have posted links where visitors can read more and do more to stop this legislation.

I announced yesterday on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ (the three social media platforms I use) that while I agree something should be done to protect IP, I felt SOPA and PIPA in their current form was not the answer.  I then stated my three amateur radio websites, http://myamateurradio.com, http://kd0bik.com/blog and http://kd0bik.com/sota would remain open to share the free flow of information to the amateur radio community. 

I began hearing last night of several popular amateur radio websites would follow the trend Wikipedia has done and black out their websites for 24 hours.  This is what has shocked and disappointed me.  Please allow me to explain why.

Amateur radio is both a hobby and it is a service.   Actually in times of need, the service amateur radio can provide is very important.  But amateur radio is also more.  It’s a community of like-minded individuals who come together to share the magic of radio in all its forms.  While not all amateur operators practice this, for the most part we don’t let social, political, religious type issues prevent the free flow of information and enjoyment for the hobby.  We prove this each and every day.

What disappoints me is when I’ve learned of certain amateur radio related websites have shut down in protest of the SOPA and PIPA legislation.   I’m not talking about just displaying a banner…I’m talking about a full blackout with no access to the information.  Again, I understand this is what “could” happen.  However, the important thing to remember is…IT HASN’T HAPPENED!!!

Now…let me state I fully understand these websites have the freedom of speech to stay open or to shut down.  In addition, I’m really not addressing the individual amateur radio operator who has a personal blog site and blogs about his activities in the hobby.  If he or she chooses to shut their site down for 24 hours, this is of course his or her right.  What I’m talking about are those sites which are built around supporting the community of amateur radio.

But don’t they too have the right to do as they please?  Yes…of course.  However, while these sites may be owned by a single individual…their existence is to support the amateur radio community.  In many cases, these sites accept donations to help offset their operational costs (yes it does cost real money to host websites).  These donations come from the community which uses the sites.  Finally, much of the content created on some of these websites has been done so by….YEP, THE COMMUNITY.  Therefore the way I look at it is the site just doesn’t belong to a single individual.  It belongs to the community.   More specifically it belongs to the amateur radio community.

Now I have thought long and hard about if I would actually mention by name some of the amateur radio sites I’ve discovered who chose to shut down in protest to SOPA and PIPA.  I’ve decided I would.  After all, in both of these examples the site owners/admins made public announcements so they certainly aren’t trying to hide. 

The first site might actually surprise you.  It did me.  APRS.fi, this is the popular Automatic Packet Reporting System map site which many APRS enthusiasts use to track their mobile position.  This site is also used by those participating in SOTA or Summits on the Air.  In the example of APRS.fi, I find their decision to shut down the most troubling.  Simple because many EMCOMM (Emergency Communications) groups utilize this website system and back to SOTA (as this is near and dear to me), many who participate in SOTA do so alone.  They are on the trail alone and use APRS to beacon their trail position.  While alternative sites exist, APRS.fi has somewhat become the most popular. 

The second site fits the “belonging to community” example.  HFPack has also blacked out their website in protest of SOPA and PIPA.  The somewhat ironic thing I find disturbing about HFPack and their decision to black out the site is unlike every other example I’ve seen, they failed to provide links for visitors to contact their local representatives and links to help a visitor understand why they are protesting.  

A friend of mine said it best, “The Interwebz community pokes itself in the eye to protest SOPA…” 

In closing, I’ve worked very hard to eliminate certain topics of discussion from my podcast and blogs…especially political commentary.  Yes I have opinions.  I have ideas.  Yes I VOTE.   But I keep these things to myself as they don’t directly relate to what amateur radio is about.  I will continue to use both APRS.fi and HFPack when the sites return.  I’m not boycotting them and I’m not asking you to boycott them.  I’m simply stating my opinion and my opinion is these sites should be open to share their services and content with all of us, the amateur radio community. 

That is all…Thank you for your time.

73 de KDØBIK

I’ve setup an independent blog site to somewhat showcase my past and future SOTA or Summits On The Air activities.  In addition to posting alerts to future SOTA activations and detailed trip reports after, I also plan to post some “How To” or instructional related topics all about SOTA.

These special instructional SOTA topics can all be found under the category of “How To”.  In addition, I’ve setup links to all the various SOTA related websites and even documented some of the gear I carry along with me.  The gear page explains what I use and also details into why and how. 

You can access The SOTA Activities of KD0BIK by clicking the SOTA Activities link at the top of the page. 

Thank you to all who continue to read my blog sites and listen to the podcast. 

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

You know how it is when you buy that new pickup truck and you’re so careful with placing anything into the back for fear of getting that first scratch. 

A few months ago I learned about Keith, G6NHU and his QSO365 project.  I thought to myself what a marvel idea and what a great way to ensure you get on the air more.  Keith’s plan was certainly more than just the hope of making a contact a day.  It was very well organized and he blogged about his progress throughout the year.  Keith successfully completed his goal and did in fact make a QSO each and every day in 2011.  Please visit his blog site to read all about his 2011 QSO 365 project.

I think we all struggle from time to time with staying active on the bands.  I once interviewed Duncan McLaughlin, KU0DM on the practical amateur radio podcast.  You can listen to this two part episode in episode 28 and episode 29.  During the interview, I asked Duncan how he managed to stay active on the air with all the other activities a high school aged young man has competing for his spare time.   His comment was simple.  His goal is to make 5 contacts or QSO’s per week.  This might be completed with a single QSO each day for five days or he might complete 5 QSO’s all in one day.  The point was to at the very least have a goal and stick to it.

Sadly, I have experienced months where I’ve only made a handful of QSO’s and some months where I’ve made none.  I’ve even experienced consecutive months of no QSO’s.  I should note, these consecutive months of no on-air QSO’s had nothing to do with HF band conditions.  It was available time and motivation to create available time.

As an example, the month of January 2011 I failed to make a single QSO.  While I made 157 in February 2011, I experienced zero QSO months in March and April.  I really came out of my shell in August with 69, then 302 in September (Colorado and Texas QSO Parties) and I finished the year strong with over 100 QSO’s each month in October, November and December.  The month of January 2012 is still young and I’ve logged over 100 Q’s.  While it’s not about the quantity or number of QSO’s I make in a given month or year, it really is the quality.  

Back to that first scratch.  Just after I kissed my wife and wished her a Happy New Year (just after midnight), my wife said to me, “Don’t you want to go down to your ham shack and make a first contact of 2012?” My wife is VERY supportive of my amateur radio hobby and everything that goes along with it (this blog, podcast, SOTA adventures etc.)  Of course I said yes, be right back.  I quickly fired up JT65 and the first QSO was in the log for 2012.  Really without trying I found myself making QSO’s on Jan. 2, 3, 4, 5 etc.  I guess you could say I’m trying for a QSO a day in 2012. 

But why do I keep talking about a scratch?  On the evening of 10 January, I didn’t make it down to the shack until after 9 PM local time.  The bands were in horrible shape and I didn’t hear anything on 40 or 80m SSB.  I checked the data modes and still nothing.  I decided my best chance for a QSO was JT65 and I began calling CQ at 5 watts.  Every couple of CQ cycles I increased the power by another 5 watts.  Calling CQ at 10, 15, 20 and even 25 watts….NOTHING heard.  I began to have the feeling you feel just after you get that first scratch in the pickup bed. 

See…when you buy that brand new pickup truck, you do everything in your power to prevent that first scratch.  I mean….just about everything.  Then one day you look and there it is.  As big as Dallas….that first scratch.  From that point on you just simply don’t care.  You haul anything and everything and don’t care if something slides and bangs around. 

I wasn’t ready for the first scratch or the first day with no logged QSO’s.  I turned the power up to 30 watts and sent my JT65 CQ out one more time.  Thank fully, K5DHY in Texas heard me and replied.  A few minutes later the QSO for the day was in the logbook.  Whew….I avoided that first scratch.

So I guess you could say that I’m trying for a QSO a day in 2012.  My rules are simple…have fun.  The day it becomes a chore, I’ll stop.  But right now it is fun and yes I realize I’m not even half way through my first month. 

Rules???  I don’t have any rules set really.   All contacts will be HF.   Most will be made in my shack.  But others will most certainly be from portable operations such as SOTA and other portable/mobile operations.   My calendar day is based on UTC.  Which means in the evenings I’m working towards the next calendar day.  This also sort of provides a safety net in the sense if I hadn’t made that QSO on the evening of the 10th, I could have made attempts the next day as long as I got it in the log before 00:00 UTC. 

We’ll see how things progress and see if I can avoid that first scratch.

Until next time….

73 de KD0BIK 

If you were within earshot of an HF transceiver this past weekend and especially tuned through the data portion of the bands, I’m sure you heard the tell-tale signs of a digital contest taking place.   You really can’t miss it.  The quick bursts of RTTY signals going back and forth is music to some and a nightmare to others. 

Between a heavily packed weekend consisting of an amateur radio breakfast on Saturday morning, taking the Christmas tree down along with the lights outside before the snow started falling and a few other misc. items on the “honey do” list, I managed to find about 3 hours of spare time to spend in the shack working the ARRL RTTY Roundup.  During this time I logged 79 RTTY QSO’s mostly on 20 and 40 meters. 

I must admit I don’t work a lot of RTTY contacts outside of contests and while I started getting serious about contesting in 2011 and actually submitted logs for several, digital contesting isn’t something I get overly excited about.  This fact may sound odd, especially coming from someone who spends 75% or more of his on-air time working the digital modes. 

In any event, as the title states….I did have fun and this is what matters to me.  I’ve mapped out many of the contests (mostly State QSO Parties) I hope to operate in throughout 2012.  I hope to make 2012 and my involvement in the radio sport  aspect of the hobby a memorable one.  So between many of the upcoming on-air contests and my SOTA involvement.  You’ll be certain to hear CQ CQ CQ from KD0BIK throughout the year. 

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

Where did the year go?  Like many of you, yes I’m asking myself that question.  It seems just yesterday we were saying goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011.  But this is what they say about getting older.  Time passes by much faster or certainly appears to do so.  I’m sure 2012 will also speed past, best sit down and buckle our seat belt. 

My 2011 started off a bit slow in the area of my amateur radio hobby involvement.   This partly was due to other work and life commitments.  I believe it was sometime in early summer when I really got rolling again both with this blog and my amateur radio podcast.  I would have to list both of these (the blog and the podcast) as major accomplishments to 2011.  Mainly because they both got very close to extinction.  With better focus and organization, I’m proud to say that I kept up my publishing schedule and both will be around for a long time.  Here are a few of my other highlights for 2011.

1.  Amateur Extra

As my regular readers (and listeners of PARP) know.  I was licensed as a technician in August 2007 and upgraded to general in January 2008.  Since perhaps January 2008, certainly since January 2009, every one of my annual New Years Resolutions involved upgrading to extra.  Of course I failed to accomplish this in 2008, 2009 and 2010.  But just like clock work I put it on my 2011 list with somewhat of a soft-target of getting accomplished before June 30, 2012.  Why June 30, 2012?  Well that is when the current extra class question pool expires.  I told myself I couldn’t purchase another study guide and I better just get it done.

The half way point of 2011 came and went and I hadn’t really made any progress towards extra preparation.  The book was on the bookshelf collecting dust.  Then one Tweet from Twitter in early August changed everything.  From this tweet I learned about an online (via Echolink) extra class study group which planned to meet twice a week.  This was hosted by the South Coast Amateur Radio Service.  I signed up and it was exactly what I needed.  Even before the 6 week class was finished, I was passing sample tests and on Saturday, 28 August I attended a local VE session where I passed the amateur extra exam. 

2.  New Amateur Radio Club

I’ve always believed in the importance of belonging to a local amateur radio club.  I talk about this on a regular basis on the podcast as I feel it is the best way for new amateur’s to gain experience and also share a common interest with likeminded individuals.  Having said that, I certainly realize not all amateur radio clubs are created equal.  I’ve heard some real horror stories and while I must state I’ve never experienced any rude behavior towards other hams, I had grown extremely bored with my old club and simply had stopped going to monthly meetings. 

Sometime in early September I was invited to attended a club meeting with the Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Radio Association from Bob Witte, K0NR.  I attended my first meeting in September and proud to say this is my new home.  In addition to Bob being a member, I’m also extremely fortunate to also share the club with Steve Galchutt, WG0AT.  I’ve certainly learned a lot from both. 

3.  Summits On The Air (SOTA)

I certainly couldn’t end the previous paragraph of talking about Steve and not mention SOTA.  I’ve previously explained how I stumbled onto SOTA and will let you read that blog posting if you haven’t already.  As we all know, the amateur radio hobby is extremely diverse in what it offers those who participate.  SOTA has been a way for me to combine the love of the great outdoors with amateur radio.  I’ve completed two SOTA activations and am counting the days until I can get out for #3.  If you would like to learn more about the Summits On The Air program, please listen to episode 50 of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. 

4.  JT65

JT65 is the weak signal mode that has a lot of our fellow amateur’s talking and for the right reasons.  The QSO’s I’ve been able to make and not even always in the best band conditions, really have me excited about this mode.  Since I started running JT65, I’ve worked a little over 350 different and unique call signs and it continues to gain in popularity.  In addition, JT65 has been successful at allowing me to work many new DX entities.  If you would like to learn more about JT65, please listen to episode 46 of PARP.

5.  Worked All States

Now one might think having been licensed for over four years I would have collected multiple WAS certificates by now.  Especially after holding a general class license with its great HF privileges for almost the entire duration of this time.  Yes it is true I’ve also seen many brand new amateurs obtain WAS within their first year or so. 

To be perfectly honest, it was never really anything I looked into until just this year.  I set my sights on obtaining the basic (mixed mode) version of Worked All States as a New Years Resolution and begin mapping out how to accomplish it.  With the help of both my HRD logbook and both eQSL and the ARRL Logbook of the World systems, I identified what I had versus what I needed. 

Of course what I found was I had worked many of the states I needed and in some cases multiple times.  However, the contact had not been confirmed in either eQSL or LoTW by the other operator.  Around the late summer timeframe I worked both the Colorado and Texas QSO parties and along with just casual operating I had managed to get my list down to just two remaining states Wyoming and South Dakota.

Wyoming went into the logbook and was confirmed in early November.  This just left South Dakota.  Up to this point I had worked and confirmed 49 of the 50 US States without the need of a sked.  I had hoped to do this with South Dakota, but time was running out.  So in early December I contacted a fellow ham in South Dakota who routinely operates JT65 and asked if he would be willing to work me for SD.  He agreed and between me getting sick and the Christmas holiday, we finally managed to complete the sked and South Dakota was in the logbook and confirmed on 26 December.  Ironically, two days later I worked another station from SD completely random on JT65.  So I suppose even if the sked wouldn’t have been possible, I would have still earned WAS in 2011.

Final Thoughts…

In closing, 2011 has been a very good year for me in the area of amateur radio.  As I approach my 5th year of being licensed I’m reminded of what this hobby truly is all about.  The friendships I’ve made over the years and especially those who I interact with on a regular basis are truly very important to me.  It is these friendships made possible through this hobby which truly help to complete who I am as a person.

The hobby of amateur radio and those who participate in it, are often referred to as ambassadors.  We are ambassadors who are not restricted by political, religious or even geographical boundaries.  We do what we do and are who we are as individuals because of a common shared interest.    It is my wish for the new year for all of us to use this common shared interest and our roles as ambassadors to continue to bridge peaceful relationships around the world.  

Until next time and next year,

73 de KD0BIK

Do you make them?  Are they successful?  Will you make New Year’s resolutions for 2012?  What about resolutions geared specifically towards amateur radio?

If you’ve been listening to the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast for the past few years, you know the January episode features a few suggested New Year’s resolution ideas geared towards the amateur radio hobby.  This January will be no different and episode 51 will provide you numerous ideas for your very own New Year’s resolutions.  Of course, I’ll also share some of my own with you and provide a follow-up on how successful I was with my 2011 plans.

Again, amateur radio specific resolutions could be anything from upgrading to a new license class, trying a new mode, learning CW, volunteering in your community via ARES, RACES etc. or even something as simple as joining a local amateur radio club.

If you are thinking of specific amateur radio New Year’s resolutions of your own, please email me with your idea and how you plan to accomplish it.  I’ll read some of the suggestions during episode 51.

Until next time,

73 de KD0BIK