Commemorating the 80th anniversary of
the Allied assault on Normandy beaches

From June 4 to 9, 2024, a number of crew members of the Plusscouts PA3EFR/J and other Radio Scouters will be traveling to Normandy (Omaha Beach) to support the international activities of the commemoration services around 80 years of D-DAY. 

Operators of this call are the operators of the PA3EFR/J-crew, a specialist group of Scouters, members of Scouting Netherlands through the national Fellowship called Plusscouts. In addition, we have invited some distinguished guests to join our team. This crew primarily brings TDOTA and JOTA to Scouting groups that are eager to get involved in the annual global Radio Scouting activities. Additional information on this years crew can be found on the Plusscouts Website. The station is valid for 2 points in the Dutch Radio Scouting Award scheme.

The good news is that we will be hosted again by the D-Day Museum at Omaha Beach. A radio shack in the backyard of the museum will be part of our radio station and associated radio scouting activities.

QSL cards will be sent out after the event. 

Some specific Radio details:

Radio waves (+- QRM)

1.882 MHz LSB

3.682 MHz LSB

7.182 MHz LSB

14.182 MHz USB

21.182 MHz USB

28.482 MHz USB

DMR TalkGroup 907 - JOTA

The Chaffee-Lake Amateur Radio Association is offering an introductory ham radio license class in June. We will make good use of the Ham Radio School online Technician course, supplemented with in-person instruction and mentoring.

The Amateur (Ham) Radio Technician license is your gateway to the worldwide fun and excitement of Amateur Radio

• Earn your ham radio Technician class license
• Pass your FCC amateur radio license exam in class
• Multiple-choice exam, No Morse Code Required
• Learn to operate on the ham bands, 10 meters and higher
• Learn to use the many VHF/UHF FM repeaters in Colorado

Schedule

Sat   June 1    1-3 pm In-Person Kickoff Session
Wed June 5    7-8 pm Online – Review session via Zoom
Wed June 12  7-8 pm Online – Review session via Zoom
Sat   June 15  1–3:30 pm In-Person Review and Exam Session

Most of the course content will be delivered via the Ham Radio School online system, requiring about 15 hours of independent study by the student. The content is delivered in bite-sized video lessons, followed by online quizzes to check your knowledge. Our instructors will provide additional instruction and coaching during in-person and online sessions. The in-person sessions will be at Casa Del Rio Clubhouse in Buena Vista, Colorado.

Register now

The fee for the class is $29.95.
(The FCC also charges a $35 license fee to issue your license, payable after you pass the exam.)

To register for the class or to get more information, contact:
Bob Witte KØNR
[email protected]

The post Technician License Class – Buena Vista, CO appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

AmateurLogic.TV Episode 193 is now available for download.

George and Mike’s Excellent Adventure to Dayton Hamvention 2024.
New radios, old radios, mystery radio and friends. Take your best guess at what new radio Icom has under glass. Learn more about the new Flex radios. Visit with good friends we all know. See 60 years of Icom Radio History. And find out about Emile’s Cheap Old Field Day plans.

Download
YouTube

Last week without any fanfare, Hans Summers small company QRP Labs, launched the bigger QMX+. 

A full blown 160m-6m CW and Digital modes QRP rig. (SSB to come in a future firmware release).

The radio is available as either a kit, or as a ready built option. With optional metal case and GPS Unit to aid frequency alignment, RTC, and Location.

Anything which Hans designs is tuned for high performance!  With easy step by step documentation for those who are competent enough to understand and build.

Price starts at $125 + case + options + carriage. (Price may also be subject to import charges, duty etc.)

Further details: https://shop.qrp-labs.com/qmxp

QRP Labs forum:  https://groups.io/g/QRPLabs/

 G3XBM informs me he has ordered a fully assembled unit. So it is well worth keeping an eye on his blog for details when it arrives in his shack: https://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/

I have been noticeably absent regarding my recipe series as I was recovering from COVID. Both my wife and I consider ourselves very fortunate as this is the first brush we have had with COVID-19. We are both fully vaccinated and it was like having a bad cold that would just not go away. Now I did lose my sense of smell and taste for about a week which was a bit weird. We did stay at home (about 10 days) until we tested negative. I will humour my readers with one soapbox moment.....a friend of mine mocked us both for staying home telling us it's the new cold bug get over it. My answer to that is "very true" BUT it also is very contagious and that is the problem as I see it. To wander around without taking precautions allows the bug to spread and more get sick. My friend, I would consider selfish in a way as it's all about "him". Wait until he has to go to the hospital but has to wait forever as staff are sick at home, and needs the police but response time is longer as some are off sick and so on. I am retired and could stay home for 10 days but to him I say at least wear a mask if you venture out....it's not all about YOU. 

OK time to step off the soapbox now and get to the meat and potatoes of the next post. In the last few years, there has been an explosion in getting outdoors and operating radios.  We have Park on the air (POTA) summits on the air (SOTA) and then branch-offs from that. One of the main ingredients of this recipe is to love the outdoors. The modes of operation are SSB, CW and digital modes if you operate CW then some practice picking out code in a pileup, being able to pick out a call. I have listened to some POTA and SOTA activations and it can get very busy. It truly is an art to pick out calls in a pileup. Refining this art will help increase your contacts and the needed numbers for an official activation. Another ingredient is Increasing your knowledge about portable antennas and how best to set them up. Learning the ins and outs of your rig (most of the time a small compact unit) as when operating you won't have the luxury of a manual to refer to. Another ingredient is the art of organization it can make or break an activation. A simple BNC to PL-259 connector left at home can bring an activation to a fast end before it even starts. 

If you are doing a summit on the air an important part of the recipe is safety. I would not do it alone, if it's a crazy summit then bring along a sat-phone, GPS locator, and first aid kit as funny things can happen. The technology is there so use it. NEVER NEVER think it could ever happen to me.  

Most activation's are portable and a 100 watts signal is a dream which was left at home. For this reason, your best bang per watt may be CW or digital operations and not to worry SSB will do the trick as well. An important ingredient is to figure out how to spot yourself during an activation. This will get you folks listening for your peanut signal and buy you some contacts for the log. Another ingredient in my humble opinion is to get a good set of headphones. You could be in a park with other people and their noise, the wind and so on. Now having said that let me also include a very important ingredient and that is ham radio ambassadorship. If you are in public then the public is going to wonder what you are up to. Be ready to field questions and be ready to share about the hobby. It could be an onlooker, park ranger, police or who ever. 

Well there you go all done with the recipes of ham radio I  hope you enjoyed this little montage.

Having spent nearly 30 years in the IT industry, I’ve experienced my fair share of all-nighters and multi-day outages. Whether it’s been frantically repairing dead hardware, fixing corrupted databases, or resolving perplexing network issues, these stressful situations have taught me a lot. One of the most critical lessons I’ve learned is the importance of communication during an outage. While the technical team works tirelessly behind the scenes to resolve the issue, it’s equally vital to have a team dedicated to keeping customers and stakeholders informed.

Currently, there’s a lot of speculation surrounding the multi-day ARRL LOTW outage. Without insight into the system architecture or the specifics of the outage, speculating about the root cause or assigning blame is futile. However, one area where ARRL is undeniably falling short is in their communication about the outage.

The ARRL often faces criticism, sometimes unjustly, but frequently due to its own actions. The LOTW outage is a prime example of a situation where effective communication could mitigate criticism and even garner support. Regular, sincere updates with technical details would go a long way in keeping their stakeholders informed and engaged. Given that many of these stakeholders have technical backgrounds, they would appreciate and understand the specifics.

Moreover, humanizing the recovery effort by showcasing the dedication and hard work of the personnel involved could foster empathy and support. Highlighting the individuals and the tremendous effort they are putting into resolving the issue can turn a frustrating situation into an opportunity to build trust and rapport.

In summary, effective communication during IT outages is not just about transparency, but also about building and maintaining trust. The ARRL’s current communication strategy regarding the LOTW outage is lacking, but there is a clear path to improve it. By providing regular updates and humanizing the effort, ARRL can turn this challenge into an opportunity.

This article was originally posted on Radio Artisan.