AmateurRadio.com

When I got my new QST the other day, I was flipping through it and found myself on the quick stats page. One of the questions was pretty simple and easy. Do you use 6 meters? WOW! The answer floored me.

Maps Courtesy DX Sherlock

According to this stat, 84% don’t use 6 meters. Why? I know when I got on it, it was usually very quiet and no activity.  What could the reason be? Everyone says it’s a fun band. I don’t think it’s lack of equipment. Most new all mode HF/VHF/UHF radios for the past 5 or so years, have had 6 meters built into it. And antennas can’t be the issue, as anyone could build a simple dipole for 6 meters. Even a 6 meter beam is pretty inexpensive. I got one at a Hamfest 4 years ago for like $60.

When I was at my local club meeting just last week, one of the guys asked what I was using and suggested I try PSK31, as that was a demonstration we had just watched, on 10 meters. Easy to get a vertical antenna up and a quick mode to setup as well. I like the idea, but I also want to get on 6 meters. He said yeah 6 is good, but the problem is no one is usually on there. Which brings me back to my question. Why not?

Yeah, DX on 6 can be fun when it’s hopping, but why not local stuff? SSB or AM. There’s an FM repeater listed for the area, but I’ll be damned if I can hear it. I’m starting to think it doesn’t exists anymore. But if it’s a lack of people, keeping 6 meters quiet, aren’t we just feeding the whole catch 22 cycle? I’m thinking maybe I should get the 6 meter dipole up and do a local 6 meter net on SSB. But now I put the question to you. If you’re not on 6 meters, why not?

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, Albany’s #1 Rock Station website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne.

I didn’t post anything yesterday because I wasn’t feeling well, so to make up for it I give you this. Southgate ARC has a story posted about the USS Pampanito, a World War II Balao class Fleet submarine, that is docked at pier 45 at Fisher Man’s Wharf in San Fransisco. They have an Amateur Radio station on board and it’s on the air.The Pampanito has been converted into a museum and memorial back in 2007, that is open daily. During WWII, the vessel made six patrols of the Pacific ocean and sunk six Japanese ships and damaged four others. One of the stops on the tour of the Pampantio is the radio room, where the Amateur Radio station is setup. Rem, K6BBQ, has made a video of the radio room showing some Hams making contacts from the submarine. Rem says about the video, “..I’ve added some special effects to go along with the Pampanito’s WWII history.”

This kind of reminds me of the USS Slater, that is docked here in Albany, NY. Here is Rem’s video. Enjoy.

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, The Rock of Albany’s website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne.

The North Texas Balloon Project is going to be launching mission number 19 tomorrow, at about 8:30am central time. The balloon will have a few payloads attached with different sensors and a 10 meter beacon aboard. It’s expected to go up to 100,000 feet, which will take approximately 90 minutes and return by parachute in about 50 minutes. A recovery team will track and retrieve the balloon using it’s on board APRS. All the particulars for mission 19 can be found on the group’s website. There is also information on their past flights as well. Below, I found a nice little video for a 2009 flight they did. This kind of thing is still on my bucket list to do. Maybe I should take the time this winter to start planning something out. Do some research and get some stuff together for it. And if I wasn’t already going to be running around Upstate NY all day tomorrow, I would be trying to listen for this on 10 meters and watching on APRS.

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, The Rock of Albany’s website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne.

Sometimes I just come across some real cool videos when I’m not trying. This is one of those times. It’s surprising how many good videos are on YouTube and just don’t make it to my suggestion area on the front page of my profile. I think YouTube needs to work on that algorithm. From the description in the video…

This video describes the microphone preamp and equalizer that I designed in 1999 to use with my Astatic D-104 microphone with my ham radio. The D-104 suffers from two issues when used with modern ham radios – impedance mismatch and non-ideal frequency response. The circuit addresses both of these issues. The video briefly describes the circuit, it’s frequency response, and demonstrates the bass and treble adjustments using an oscilloscope and signal generator.

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, The Rock of Albany’s website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne.

Hey. How YOU doin’? If you’re a contest junky, here is another one that may get you fired up. It’s the 2011 New York QSO Party sponsored by the Rochester DX Association. Work the 62 counties of New York State for fun and awards. You can even sponsor an award as well.

Map Courtesy of RXDA

The contest runs from October 15th 2011 starting at 14:00 UTC until October 16th 02:00 UTC. 12 hours of contacts and exchanges. The RDXA has also instituted a new class of operator for the contest; Rookie. If you are a licensee who got their ticket on or after January 1st, 2008, you qualify for the Rookie class and be able to compete for a plaque if you have the best score. But this award can only be awarded once to an operator. So there is a show window of time to win this I would think. No word on when someone would be exempt from the Rookie class. But you can find all the rules on the website, as well as links for software to log with, and PDF versions of maps of all the New York counties.

There is also a web forum available again from the RXDA. It was closed temporarily because of excessive spam problems, but it’s back open accepting new users. But it appears to be a manual process so don’t expect a new registration to be approved automatically. I can sympathize with this one. There are a ton of spammers out there just looking for the chance to fill forums with their useless crap.

Anyways, as a New Yorker, it would be wrong of me not to mention this contest. Plus I just got the email yesterday and I was still looking for something to write about. SO call it fate of procrastination. Either way, it should be fun. Enjoy!

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, The Rock of Albany’s website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne.

I’m not a fan of New Kids on the Block, but this title just jumped out at me when I saw the story over at ARRL.ORG that NASA is looking for more astronauts. Currently there are only 59, where a decade ago, there was 150. Since the retirement of the Shuttle, the numbers have been going down.

Photo Courtesy of NASA/APOD

It takes 2 and a half years to train to be an astronaut, on top of the years of college getting a degree. Then there is the 31 weeks of working in Russia to learn how the Soyuz craft work and learning Russian. It’s a pretty big commitment, but from what I can see, it has some big payback and perks. I mean, who wouldn’t want to fly a few hundred nautical  miles above the Earth in micro gravity?

But currently, the Soyuz is grounded because of the crash of a supply ship in August, while Russian space agency investigators troubleshoot what went wrong. This could lead to a short abandonment of the International Space Station if Russian officials find the problem quickly. But still, the need for astronauts for the manned space flight program is still there.

From the ARRL.ORG story:

NASA has said that it expects to send four to six astronauts to the ISS each year for six-month rotations. But the August crash of a Russian re-supply rocket has grounded the Soyuz, the only vehicle capable of flying crew members to the station. NASA noted that the Russian crash might lead the agency to temporarily abandon the ISS this fall unless the Russians quickly troubleshoot the problem. “We will understand, to our satisfaction, the anomaly, what is believed to be the cause and how they resolved it,” said NASA ISS Program Manager Michael Suffredini in a press conference after the crash. “If we’re not happy, we won’t put our astronauts on the Soyuz.” In April, NASA awarded $269 million to four companies developing craft to deliver cargo and crew to the space station.

This along with the time needed to train, could lead to a shortage in 5 years. So NASA is looking now. But I doubt you’ll find a posting for the job on Monster.com or Regionalhelpwanted.com. Still, if you possess  a pretty hefty degree and are in good physical shape, you could be the next NASA astronaut. And having a Ham Radio license is also a plus. Right now there are 4 Hams on the Space station. Ron Garan, KF5GPO (NASA), Mike Fossum, KF5AQG (NASA), Sergei Volkov, RU3DIS (RKA), and Satoshi Furukawa, KE5DAW (JAXA). And you can check out AMSAT or the ISS Fanclub for more info on working the ISS.

The Edmonton Amateur Radio Society is sponsoring a “Try Amateur Radio Day”  tomorrow at the local high school. When I saw this online, I thought, “That’s a pretty great way to get the hobby in the public view.” Just setup, do some operating and invite people to stop on by and have a look or even get on the air.

Photo Courtesy of Tryon ARC/K2JJI

Now I have helped with something like this with the Tryon Club I was a member of back in my home town. We have what’s called “Railfest” which is just a little fair near city hall and organizations from the area come to setup and meet the public, as well as having food and games and such. It’s a lot of fun. But something I noticed was that my fellow club members never went beyond saying ‘Hi’ to people that stopped by. They didn’t engage them in a conversation. It was like they were shy.

So I took the initiative and started talking to folks. That what I do for a living. I talk and engage listeners and people. Kids, passersby and such. It made for some nice conversations and getting the word out, that there is a club in town. Plus we had the usual pamphlets and PR material and a couple radios setup. All would be just nice to look at and be kind of there if you didn’t engage your visitors. So that’s a good bit of advice. Engage them in a conversation. If you get a small group of people around your table or area, and others see it, they will probably make it a point to stop there and see what is going on.

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, The Rock of Albany’s website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne.