AmateurRadio.com

The last 24 hours here in Upstate NY has been flood warnings and weather watches, and I want to get away from that for a bit. A good place to go, I think, is California. So why not join in on their 45th running of their QSO Party which is probably the largest in the U.S.

Image of Flag of California/Wikipedia

So the object of the party is of course to work as many stations in the Golden State as possible on phone and CW. Stations may be worked once per mode/band combination for points with California Counties (58 of them) as individual multipliers. And California stations will get credit for working stations inside and outside of the state with US States and Canadian Provinces as their multipliers. The party runs from 16:00 GMT October 1st till October 2nd at 22:00 GMT.

The Northern California Contest Club sponsors the CQP and offers a variety of awards open to stations inside and outside of California.  Some of the awards include plaques for the top operators in the Youth (under 18) and YL categories. California QSO Party chairman, Rick “Rhino” N6RNO, says that last year the contest attracted a record number of log submissions, and they are hoping to beat the previous record this year, by as big a margin as they can.

The rules for the contest, as well as a complete list of awards can be found on their website.

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.

This one is going to be a little short, but here is some highlights of the ARISSat-1 on the event of it’s 1 month of service, and the 1 month of me trying to still receive it. While I am not bitter, I do cry myself to sleep sometimes at night, knowing I may never get to hear it. And if you believed that last sentence, I have some bridges in New York City I would like to offer you a great deal on.

So, here are some of the articles I have posted about ARISSat-1:

• Watch ARISSat-1 Deploy on NASA TV [VIDEO]
  

• Track and Watch ARISSat-1 on The Go!
  

• ARISSat-1 the Easy Way [VIDEO]
  

Photo Courtesy of AMSAT

Also, Douglas, KA2UPW/5 has reported that over 3000 frames of telemetry data has been sent in from the satelitte in the last 2 days. So things are still looking good. If you have any images from the SSTV on the satellite, please share them. I would love to see them.

Now, I haven’t really added much more on the ARISSat-1 because I didn’t want to get too bogged down with it. There are a ton of other stores I wanted to touch on as well. And I will be as we move forward. One of which is an Apple Cider Mobile as Autumn approaches and Apple Cider becomes the new beer for the evenings. Along with cider donuts and cheese curds and all the other goodies you can get at those small stores at family apple orchards here in Upstate NY. All this makes for a fun night at the radio on my favorite 2 meter repeater.

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.

After only 78 views on the website yesterday, I figured I should step up my game. One aspect of Ham Radio that I started to look at was Digital Amateur TV. The analog version, while still around, I’m sure is fun, but digital seems more my speed, being a Ham and a Geek. So here are a few things to kind of wet the appetite for Amateur Television. One is a simple link to a website in the Netherlands, with all kinds of information on digital amateur television. It’s in English, so don’t worry about busting out your Dutch to English dictionaries or Google Translate. There is also a nice site from a group in Ohio with some great info. I saw the link for this a while ago in QST, I think.

The other is just the guys from Ham Nation talking about Amateur Television. Now I haven’t seen this episode yet, but it’s one that I really should sit down and watch. So, here ya go.

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.

It’s very hard to believe it’s been 10 years since that horrible day when nearly 3 thousand people were killed. I’m sure many of us remember where we were when we found out. It’s a fixed point in time, to use Doctor Who terminology. To commemorate this event, Special Event stations will be on the air. Here is a list of the stations and details from the ARRL’s website:

• The Pentagon Amateur Radio Club, K4AF, will be on the air 7 AM-9 PM Saturday, September 10 (1100-0100 UTC, Saturday, September 10 through Sunday, September 11). Active operating frequencies will be posted during event on the K4AF website. This Special Event is to honor all those lost on September 11, 2001, with special remembrance of the 184 people who lost their lives at the Pentagon and on board American Airlines Flight 77.
• The Blair Amateur Radio Society, W3PN, will be operating N3U/FLT93 from September 8-15 in memoriam of United Flight 93 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This year’s activity will take place during tenth anniversary and the Memorial Dedication for the Victims of United Flight 93. To receive a QSL card, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Blair Amateur Radio Society, W3PN, 112 E Wopsononock Ave, Altoona, PA 16601.
• The Northeast Wireless Radio Club, N2WC, will be on the air Sunday, September 11 from 12 noon until 6 PM EDT (1700-2300 UTC). NWRC members will be operating in the General class bands on Phone, CW and Digital; please check the clusters for frequency updates. You can receive a Special Event QSL card when you send a $2 donation to Northeast Wireless Radio Club, 213-37 39th Avenue, Suite 175, Bayside, NY 11361.
• The Kings County Repeater Association, KC2RA, will be on the air 9 AM-5 PM EDT (1300-2100 UTC) on Saturday, September 10. Look for KC2RA on 7.250 and 14.295 MHz, as well as EchoLink node 132967 (KC2LEB-R) and the KC2RA repeater at 146.430 (CTCSS 136.5). KC2RA members will be offering a special QSL card for the event. To receive a card, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to KC2RA 9/11 Memorial Event, PO Box 280288, Brooklyn, NY 11228-0288. (This was previously posted on AmiZed Studios)
• The Symbol Technologies Amateur Radio Club, W2SBL, will be on the air September 10-11 on the following frequencies: 3.911, 7.240, 14.070 and 50.135 MHz, as well as D-STAR REF10C. STARC members will read the name of a person killed in the attacks with every QSO. A Special Event QSL card is available when you send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Symbol Technologies Amateur Radio Club, W2SBL, One Motorola Plaza, B-13, Holtsville, NY 11742.

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.

There was a lot of news coverage for then Hurricane Irene and what people should do and not do during the storm as well as get ready. Kim, my YL, and I did what we needed, to get ready and we felt pretty set and ready to ride out the storm. But as luck would have it, there really wasn’t that much to ride out where we were. We got lucky.Most of the damage from Irene was in other areas. Flooding and power outages were the main things. But there was a mudslide up in Troy, N.Y. that occurred because of the storm. But here at my home QTH, we saw mostly small limbs down. When I went out to check this morning, it was just a bit messier from the wind we had last night. But still nothing major on our end.

All through out, Kim, my daughter and I were inside from about 6pm Saturday night till about 6:30pm Sunday evening. All that time was TV, movies and news about the storm, except for a few hours I got on the local repeaters and helped out Tom, N2SQO with a Skywarn net for WX2ALY, the National Weather Service station in Valatie, N.Y.

So here is the video from our little “walkabout” on Sunday night during a break in the storm.

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 main thing most people are talking about on the local radio shows and TV morning shows is Hurricane Irene. Giving updates, information on being prepared and of course comparing it to other past hurricanes. Kim and I are pretty much ready, we’re going to get a couple coolers to keep perishables cold should we lose power. Needless to say, here is some video of the storm from NASA TV.From the NASA YouTube Channel:

From almost 230 miles above the Earth, cameras on the International Space Station recorded new video of Hurricane Irene, which is strengthening as it takes aim on the southeast Bahamas, and possibly, the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. The video was captured at 4:08 p.m. EDT on August 23, 2011, as Irene moved west-northwest.

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.

With the news of Hurricane Irene, a Category 3 storm, moving into a category 4, Greg, G0DUB, reminds us on the IARU Region 1 website, that hurricane watch frequencies are active and gathering info on the storms. These are used by Hams in North and Central America for tracking and deal with the storms and reminds us about creating QRM near these frequencies.

Photo Courtesy of NASA

• 14.300MHz is used by the Maritime Mobile Service Net daily for gathering info on weather reports from Maritime Mobiles for forecasters as well as handle traffic from these Maritime mobiles.
• 14.325MHz is for the Hurricane Watch Net which is established whenever a storm could come into contact with the U.S. mainland. They also gather info for the National Hurricane Center.
• 14.265MHz is the frequency for the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network which handles health and welfare traffic for those affected in a disaster area as well as disaster relief response should a hurricane hit.

From the Southgate ARC website, here are some of the other frequencies to keep in mind as well:

Frequencies used in Cuba: 7.045, 7.080, 7.110 MHz, 3.740 MHz

Frequencies used in Central America;
Red Centro Americana : 7.090 and 3.750MHz
Guatemala: 7.075 MHz
Nicaragua: 7.098 MHz

Mexico (FMRE): 3.690 and 7.060 MHz

Also keep in mind local frequencies if it is an area where the hurricane may hit. Simplex as well as repeater. If you are in an area where Irene may hit, I wish you luck in getting through this. I know I’ll be watching and listening.

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.