AmateurRadio.com

I’m working a bunch of local stations with the little Vibroplex Code Mite Key. It’s taking some patience to keep my speed down, and keep correct spacing at this speed, but also quite satisfying to hear slow code again and carry on actual conversations with hams.

I’ve been hanging around the 7.055 MHz SKCC frequency.

I was surprised to work a new station in Cuba last night. I’ve made at least twenty contacts on this island previously, but this was my first “CL” contact. I was happy to work CL8CF in Baracoa, Guantanamo Cuba.  The previous contacts have always been on 20-17- or 30 meters. I worked this station on 40 meters!

Apparently, this is a new band which is open to a new generation of hams in Cuba and they’re limited to 10 watts of power.

I listen to Arnie Coro (CO2KK) on the Short Wave bands and his “DX’ers” program in the winter months. A few years ago, I came close to working him and wrote him about the contact. He mentioned it on his SWL program and I have a recording of it on a cassette tape, but it’s a very poor quality. Although I could hear him, he couldn’t copy my entire call sign.

I like the percussion rhythms of Cuban music and consider all music to be a “universal language”. I chose the above video because of the music.

I can’t find much information on the web about Ham Radio in Cuba; but found the above video and wanted to share it with my readers. I no longer find the call signs of the previous Cubans stations I’ve worked on the normal data bases. I assume those stations are tightly controlled and difficult to retain. The most common call I now hear from there is CO8LY.

The new small “key” is working well. I’ll be hanging around the slower portions of the bands and enjoying QSO’s until the DX bug returns. I’m glad I found this key. I’ll use it in the field because it’s so small and lightweight. Despite it’s small size, it’s functional.

I enjoyed the drive to see the K-3 station of Art Ellis (W8PBO) in Ravenswood WV. I also enjoyed talking to Eric (AC8LJ) as we drove up the Interstate to Arts home. It was a very enjoyable trip and I was pleasantly surprised with the entire days events.

Art uses the latest Elecraft K-3 K Line gear at this home. A brief demonstration had me hooked with the first note coming from the speakers. I’m very impressed with the “graph” feature on this radio. Being able to visually “see” the signal on the band, and automatically “tuning” the radio to this frequency is VERY useful. With the accompanying “signal strength” displayed on the screen, it would be easy to spot “QRP” signals.

Every new day I spend on the CW portion of the bands makes me appreciate the development of Morse Code equipment. We’ve certainly advanced from the original “straight key” days of early radio.

I’m looking forward to another visit to Art’s radio shack. I had no idea there was such a fine display of both a good CW station and a collection of great keys in West Virginia. I’m overjoyed to find the small Code Mite key and Eric came home with a “Sideswiper” which has a very distinctive sound.

Art will be at the Dayton Hamfest in March; I’ll be looking forward to seeing him there.

Art and his wife were perfect hosts to our visit. His wife served us coffee, tea, and cookies before we left for home. They were both teachers before retirement. You won’t find finer folks anywhere in this state. They were both a real joy to meet.

I heard “nothing” on the national news this evening about the water situation here in the valley. Despite that, the water is still unsafe to drink in a few areas, and the “all clear” has been rescinded in the outlying areas of several distant towns. I fear this disaster will be forgotten quickly by the news media.

Nursing or pregnant mothers are advised NOT to drink the water, and several towns are under a “boil the water” advisory. Flushing the chemicals from 600 miles of water pipes has been a very slow process. Many towns are still passing out bottled water because the faint smell of “licorice” is still apparent in their water. Marilyn and I are using the tap water for washing clothes, and washing dishes; but we’re still NOT drinking it because of the faint lingering odor still oozing from our faucets.

There’s been 50 million plastic bottles of water distributed in this area now and we plan to drink “only” bottled water for at least another week.

This issue has NOT been resolved as far as I’m concerned. When I can comfortably drink from the faucet again, and only then, will I feel things have returned to normal.

The company responsible for the coal washing chemical leak declared bankruptcy today.

Tomorrow a friend and I will drive to the city of Ravenswood to visit a radio friend who is a great CW operator. He has several different “keys” in his shack. I’m looking forward to the change of environments, fresh air, and clean water.

After four days without potable water in the neighborhood, it was worth every penny we spent to get a shower and do the laundry. Unfortunately, we had to drive eighty miles (round trip) to achieve the goal of cleanliness and civility. We spent the night in the closest town we could find with a hotel and a nearby laundry.

Today is the fourth day without water for nearly 300,000 people in the immediate area of Charleston.

Our dog traveled with us on this trip. To him it was like going to an amusement park but to us it was something quite different. When we arrived in the town of Barboursville, the 24 hour laundromat was “overwhelmed” with people from Charleston, who were doing like us, and making the best of a bad situation.

In addition to my dual band HT, I took my “tablet” with me which I found very useful. I keep an app (IARL) on it which shows all the ham repeaters which are centered on my “current” location. The map features were very useful too. I also carry a small SWL (Tecsun PL-380) radio with me which is really nice for hearing foreign broadcast and local AM and FM broadcasts.

We drove back early this morning, spent most of the day with friends, and this evening, happily, we got the “OK” to start flushing out the water lines in our home.

This amounted to depleting all the hot water from our water tank for 15 minutes, and running the cold water for an additional 5 minutes. Then we ran both the washing machine and the dishwasher for a complete cycle with clean water.

I can’t express how happy I am to again use something (H2O) most people in the world take so much for granted. Contamination levels are now tolerable in the small area where I live. We live the closest to the immediate spill. Three hospitals, the largest shopping mall, and the state capitol are in this area.

As you can see in the above picture, there’s still a large area which needs to be flushed with clean water. Only then can the process of household purging begin. For us this trial has finally ended; but it will take even longer for the entire area to finally be purged of this coal cleaning compound.

I’ve always been a strong advocate for clean water, clean air, and a clean environment in this state. I’ve known for years the dangers of depleting our natural resources. This state, and I might add, this entire tri-state area, has an ugly history of human and environmental catastrophes. I can’t imagine the amount of water than has been wasted in this event.

Fortunately this latest catastrophe only caused an inconvenience for most (not all) of these 300,000 people. We’re on the way to recovery now, but not entirely there yet!

The Chemical Spill  yesterday still continues to plaque us here in Kanawha Valley. Some fresh water has arrived but there’s still not enough for everyone. A few of our neighbors have simply “left” their homes and will stay with friends or relatives until city water is again deemed safe for human use. We were not able to find water today although we went to three different places which were broadcast on the local radio station.

The remaining quantity of the 30,000 gallon leaking tank has been moved to a safe location and the soil around the tank is being trucked to another location. Best estimates of the quantity of the leakage have been placed at around 5,000 gallons.

“Up to 300,000 West Virginia residents were told not to drink tap water on Friday after a chemical spill called its safety into question, and health officials said water in the affected area should only be used for flushing toilets and fighting fires.”

The N8ZYA households biggest concern is water for our pets and our personal hygiene. The concentrations of the chemical in the water supply is still much to high to risk drinking, bathing, or even washing dishes. This chemical has been erroneously picked up and pumped into nine different counties. All schools and day care centers are closed and all restaurants are closed. The economic consequences of this disaster will be enormous.

I’ve not heard any calls for communications from the Ham radio community but I have everything prepared should the call go out.

My neighbor invited us, and about a dozen friends, to dinner this evening. We had soup, which was made before the chemical leak, along with a salad, and lots of wine. We gave an elderly lady on our street a couple bottles of our water.

The N8ZYA family, and approximately 100,000 others in the immediate Charleston West Virginia area, can’t drink the water, wash dishes, bathe, do laundry, or use the city water supply for ANY reason due to a large chemical tank which is leaking dangerous chemicals into our water supply  tonight. The governor has declared a “state of emergency” until the concentration and amount of a liquid used in the coal mining cleaning process can be determined and evaluated for public safety.

In essence, our drinking water can only be used to flush the toilet, or for putting out a fire. It should not be touched with human hands.

“Through a news release, the Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management says a product leak of 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol at Freedom Industries on Barlow Dr. is responsible for the contamination of the local water supply. Local health department officials are urging restaurants and bars to close immediately” 

 Which brings me to the caption of the post above. In this case, and above all other resources, water is at the top of the list, every time. It’s not a luxury, it’s essential for life.

I’ve always assumed clean drinking water is possible by filtering or boiling; but chemical contamination is an entirely different problem. There’s not much can be done except hope it moves downstream and eventually becomes harmless.

I hope clean water arrives by truck in the morning.