Posts Tagged ‘amateurradio.com’
School Daze
October 1st, 2014 | 
Author: A daze, that's what it was.
Last night was the second session of our eight week Technician class license class. I think some of our seventeen students walked out of the building with dazed expression on their faces. And I guess that's to be expected right now, as we're out of the introductory "This is Amateur Radio" feel-good fluffy part and we're now into the heart of the course, which is basic electricity and components and all the good stuff.
The concepts of current, resistance, voltage were easily digested by their inquiring minds. The concepts of capacitance, inductance, reactance and impedance? Not so much. But Marv K2VHW and I broke it down into the simplest "lay terms" that we could and I am pretty confident that they have a basic, rudimentary (if not shaky) understanding of the concepts. I am trying pretty hard to find "real world" equivalents that they can relate to, so these concepts don't totally fly over their heads.
I have to admit that back in Ye Olden Days, when I was studying for my Novice license, I wore the very same expression on my face when I left those sessions each Tuesday evening in October and November of 1978.
If you have no concept of electricity and electronics, it CAN seem daunting. But if our students do the required reading, and maybe even do a little Googling on their own, they will have that "Aha moment!" when it all comes together.
As a class, they have several things going for them. The first is that our young students are whizzes at note taking. While Marv is handling the teaching part of a segment, I try to keep an eye on our charges, to watch facial expressions and such. The younger students have their highlighters and pens going at warp speed, taking notes and marking pertinent paragraphs and sentences in their license manuals. The older adult students are no slouches, either. But there's one important difference - their facial expressions are more telling. While the "kids" are sponges, absorbing all this stuff, every now and then, I will see one of the adults screw up their faces as if to say "What?!?" It's at that moment when I will try to pause things for a bit and try to interject an example or some such thing that they're familiar with that brings the concept home to them.
The important thing that we try to stress as much as we can (without beating them over the head with it) is that they HAVE to do the required reading homework. This way, we can answer any questions on any sticky points that they might have. We also give them the reading material that will be covered in the next week's lesson, so that they're not walking into the material blindly.
These two weeks will probably be the very hardest of the eight week class. Electrical concepts and components last night. And next week, electronic and basic radio circuits. After that, we'll get into "the good stuff" - propagation, antennas, operating procedures, setting up a station, etc. That material is probably more in line with what they expected when they were signing up for an Amateur radio course.
I will make it my business during this coming week to make up a handout with some Internet sources that they can refer to in order to make the "meat" that they were fed last night just a little more palatable. As any licensed Ham knows, this is an ongoing process that doesn't end with passing the test. In fact, it's just the very beginning.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Last night was the second session of our eight week Technician class license class. I think some of our seventeen students walked out of the building with dazed expression on their faces. And I guess that's to be expected right now, as we're out of the introductory "This is Amateur Radio" feel-good fluffy part and we're now into the heart of the course, which is basic electricity and components and all the good stuff.
The concepts of current, resistance, voltage were easily digested by their inquiring minds. The concepts of capacitance, inductance, reactance and impedance? Not so much. But Marv K2VHW and I broke it down into the simplest "lay terms" that we could and I am pretty confident that they have a basic, rudimentary (if not shaky) understanding of the concepts. I am trying pretty hard to find "real world" equivalents that they can relate to, so these concepts don't totally fly over their heads.
I have to admit that back in Ye Olden Days, when I was studying for my Novice license, I wore the very same expression on my face when I left those sessions each Tuesday evening in October and November of 1978.
If you have no concept of electricity and electronics, it CAN seem daunting. But if our students do the required reading, and maybe even do a little Googling on their own, they will have that "Aha moment!" when it all comes together.
As a class, they have several things going for them. The first is that our young students are whizzes at note taking. While Marv is handling the teaching part of a segment, I try to keep an eye on our charges, to watch facial expressions and such. The younger students have their highlighters and pens going at warp speed, taking notes and marking pertinent paragraphs and sentences in their license manuals. The older adult students are no slouches, either. But there's one important difference - their facial expressions are more telling. While the "kids" are sponges, absorbing all this stuff, every now and then, I will see one of the adults screw up their faces as if to say "What?!?" It's at that moment when I will try to pause things for a bit and try to interject an example or some such thing that they're familiar with that brings the concept home to them.
The important thing that we try to stress as much as we can (without beating them over the head with it) is that they HAVE to do the required reading homework. This way, we can answer any questions on any sticky points that they might have. We also give them the reading material that will be covered in the next week's lesson, so that they're not walking into the material blindly.
These two weeks will probably be the very hardest of the eight week class. Electrical concepts and components last night. And next week, electronic and basic radio circuits. After that, we'll get into "the good stuff" - propagation, antennas, operating procedures, setting up a station, etc. That material is probably more in line with what they expected when they were signing up for an Amateur radio course.
I will make it my business during this coming week to make up a handout with some Internet sources that they can refer to in order to make the "meat" that they were fed last night just a little more palatable. As any licensed Ham knows, this is an ongoing process that doesn't end with passing the test. In fact, it's just the very beginning.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Sold Out!
The Four State QRP Group has done it again. They have just recently introduced another kit, only to see the initial run of kits get gobbled up within 36 hours of announcing them as ready for sale! This new kit is a regenerative receiver, designed by Dave Cripes NM0S, who was just inducted into the QRP Hall of Fame this past FDIM.
The new kit is called the Ozark Patrol and is reminiscent of the Globe Patrol that many of us built in our very much younger days.
The kit will become available again in 2-3 weeks as per the Four State QRP Group Website. You can go to the Ozark Patrol page by clicking here.
The receiver covers 3.5 to 15 MHz in two bands. It's powered by 6 "AA" batteries and the radio comes with a speaker and a provision for plugging in a pair of "cans".
Even though they're sold out, I placed an order for one. I have built several kits offered by the Four State Group and I have never been disappointed so far. I don't expect to be with this kit, either. In fact, I am hoping to relive some memories and get transported back to a simpler time. I think this little kit will do that, just fine.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
The new kit is called the Ozark Patrol and is reminiscent of the Globe Patrol that many of us built in our very much younger days.
The kit will become available again in 2-3 weeks as per the Four State QRP Group Website. You can go to the Ozark Patrol page by clicking here.
The receiver covers 3.5 to 15 MHz in two bands. It's powered by 6 "AA" batteries and the radio comes with a speaker and a provision for plugging in a pair of "cans".
Even though they're sold out, I placed an order for one. I have built several kits offered by the Four State Group and I have never been disappointed so far. I don't expect to be with this kit, either. In fact, I am hoping to relive some memories and get transported back to a simpler time. I think this little kit will do that, just fine.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
If this is what Autumn brings
then I will take it!
I had two very nice DX QSOs during lunch today. These were not "UR 599 TU 73" QSOs, nor were they exactly ragchews. But they were a nice change of pace from the typical "wham, bam, thank you Ma'am" kind of micro-QSOs that seem to be so prevalent these days.
The first was with Vic SM7ZDI who answered my CQ on 18.086 MHz. Vic was using a Yaesu FT-1000D at 100 Watts to a Windom. He had a good 569 signal and gave me the same. Vic told me that it was about 8C (46F) in Sweden. I was very grateful for the 65F (18C) that we had today, when I had heard that.
I had two very nice DX QSOs during lunch today. These were not "UR 599 TU 73" QSOs, nor were they exactly ragchews. But they were a nice change of pace from the typical "wham, bam, thank you Ma'am" kind of micro-QSOs that seem to be so prevalent these days.
The first was with Vic SM7ZDI who answered my CQ on 18.086 MHz. Vic was using a Yaesu FT-1000D at 100 Watts to a Windom. He had a good 569 signal and gave me the same. Vic told me that it was about 8C (46F) in Sweden. I was very grateful for the 65F (18C) that we had today, when I had heard that.
SM7DZI
My next QSO was on 20 Meters and this time I was the one answering the CQ - that of Bob, G3PJT. Bob hails from Cambridge and was using his brand new KX3! I was his second QSO and he sounded great. His antenna was a 3 element Yagi up about 17 Meters. Bob was telling me that he also has a K3, so he's quite familiar with the Elecraft line. It was cool being his second QSO and providing him with a 2X KX3 QRP QSO, to boot.
G3PJT
It was fun having a "normal", unhurried QSOs with two new Ham friends from outside the US. If only they were ALL like this!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Radiosonde Decoding
Weather balloons have been routinely launched into the atmosphere for many years by government and commercial organisations for the purpose of scientific and meteorological observations and research. Hundreds are launched daily around the world, using predominately renewable Hydrogen as the lifting gas.
These balloons invariably carrying radiosondes, a battery powered telemetry instrument package to measure various atmospheric parameters and transmit them to a ground receiver. Worldwide they operate on radio frequencies around 400MHz and 1680MHz.
Last year I discovered the hobby of High Altitude Ballooning, where enthusiasts send up their own balloons loaded with experimental payloads and radio telemetry trackers using low power transmitters and amateur radio data modes and frequencies. I have since had a great deal of enjoyment receiving and decoding these as well as developing my own payload.
I decided last year to also try my hand at decoding the commercial radiosondes. Reception of the telemetry signals is relatively straightforward as they are of higher power than the hobbyist transmitters and decoding can be done by the Sondemonitor program from COAA available to individuals to produce graphs and charts of temperature, pressure, humidity as well as the location (if transmitted) and height of balloons.
The software is available for a 21 day trial but when I attempted to install it I was thwarted by a licensing issue caused I believe by installing trial versions of COAA's ShipPlotter and PlaneSpotter programs in the past, despite this I still decided to purchase a software licence for the princely sum of €25.
However this was just before the Christmas upheaval and the dismantling of my receiving set up and so it got mothballed and I have never got around to using it till now.
It was quite by chance that I was flicking around the SDR yesterday using my original (Version1) FUNCube Dongle PRO when I spotted a Radiosonde signal on 404.2MHz, my interest was piqued. (It should be noted the later FUNCube Dongle PRO+ unfortunately has a coverage gap on this frequency so cannot be used)
I connected to my magical HAB antenna and using SDR# and the Sondemonitor program I received and decoded my first radiosonde early this morning and a second flight around noon.
The program produces some interesting graphs showing temperature, humidity, pressure and other measurements during the ascent and after the balloon burst, as well as Tephigrams.
I am not sure where these balloons are launched from. The Radiosondes are identified by the software as Vaisala SGP models (but have no GPS data?) Checking the Vaisala website there are a number of devices and one downloadable document is a comparison of the Vaisala Radiosondes made by the UK Meteorological Office in 2013 (pdf file) which mentions a site in Camborne in Cornwall, but I have also seen mention elsewhere of a site in Larkhill on Salisbury Plain.
The Met Office document also hints that the Radiosonde currently used by them is one of the Vaisala RS92 range, indeed the RS92-D appears to be a device which has no on board GPS and would fit with the GPSless decodes I have made.
Definitely another interesting radio diversion and if you are interested then reception can be made using RTL-SDR receivers as this tutorial on RTL-SDR.com demonstrates, but bear in mind the demonstration/tutorial shows GPS information being received which I have not seen on either of the two launches.
These balloons invariably carrying radiosondes, a battery powered telemetry instrument package to measure various atmospheric parameters and transmit them to a ground receiver. Worldwide they operate on radio frequencies around 400MHz and 1680MHz.
Last year I discovered the hobby of High Altitude Ballooning, where enthusiasts send up their own balloons loaded with experimental payloads and radio telemetry trackers using low power transmitters and amateur radio data modes and frequencies. I have since had a great deal of enjoyment receiving and decoding these as well as developing my own payload.
I decided last year to also try my hand at decoding the commercial radiosondes. Reception of the telemetry signals is relatively straightforward as they are of higher power than the hobbyist transmitters and decoding can be done by the Sondemonitor program from COAA available to individuals to produce graphs and charts of temperature, pressure, humidity as well as the location (if transmitted) and height of balloons.
The software is available for a 21 day trial but when I attempted to install it I was thwarted by a licensing issue caused I believe by installing trial versions of COAA's ShipPlotter and PlaneSpotter programs in the past, despite this I still decided to purchase a software licence for the princely sum of €25.
However this was just before the Christmas upheaval and the dismantling of my receiving set up and so it got mothballed and I have never got around to using it till now.
It was quite by chance that I was flicking around the SDR yesterday using my original (Version1) FUNCube Dongle PRO when I spotted a Radiosonde signal on 404.2MHz, my interest was piqued. (It should be noted the later FUNCube Dongle PRO+ unfortunately has a coverage gap on this frequency so cannot be used)
I connected to my magical HAB antenna and using SDR# and the Sondemonitor program I received and decoded my first radiosonde early this morning and a second flight around noon.
The program produces some interesting graphs showing temperature, humidity, pressure and other measurements during the ascent and after the balloon burst, as well as Tephigrams.
I am not sure where these balloons are launched from. The Radiosondes are identified by the software as Vaisala SGP models (but have no GPS data?) Checking the Vaisala website there are a number of devices and one downloadable document is a comparison of the Vaisala Radiosondes made by the UK Meteorological Office in 2013 (pdf file) which mentions a site in Camborne in Cornwall, but I have also seen mention elsewhere of a site in Larkhill on Salisbury Plain.
The Met Office document also hints that the Radiosonde currently used by them is one of the Vaisala RS92 range, indeed the RS92-D appears to be a device which has no on board GPS and would fit with the GPSless decodes I have made.
Definitely another interesting radio diversion and if you are interested then reception can be made using RTL-SDR receivers as this tutorial on RTL-SDR.com demonstrates, but bear in mind the demonstration/tutorial shows GPS information being received which I have not seen on either of the two launches.
It’s the little things that make life worthwhile
In the day to day, sometimes it's easy to forget the little things that make life worthwhile.
1) Like that yesterday was my daughter Cara's 13th birthday - she's officially a teenager now!
3) That while I was eating my chicken corn chowder in my Jeep, I managed to work DL4ISX in Germany (with some difficulty due to QSB) and HF37SONDA in Poland (who was super loud).
4) That I came home to a packet of QSL cards from the Bureau, including:
Yeah, it's the little things in life that are the absolute best!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
1) Like that yesterday was my daughter Cara's 13th birthday - she's officially a teenager now!
Did I mention she DETESTS having her picture taken and that she was ready to kill me when I snapped this one at Lake George this Summer?
2) Like that today they served chicken corn chowder in the cafeteria at work today - one of my all time favorite soups.
3) That while I was eating my chicken corn chowder in my Jeep, I managed to work DL4ISX in Germany (with some difficulty due to QSB) and HF37SONDA in Poland (who was super loud).
4) That I came home to a packet of QSL cards from the Bureau, including:
Yeah, it's the little things in life that are the absolute best!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Excited
Marv K2VHW and I, under the auspices of the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club, will be teaching a course for those in the greater Central New Jersey area who want to earn a Technician class license.
Here's the flier that Marv designed to advertise the class:
I'm excited, because so far we have eight potential students who have pre-registered. We have room for more, so if you're interested or know someone in the Central NJ area who might be interested, contact either Marv or myself. We would also ask that anyone who has pre-registered or wants to register, to please try to attend the next SPARC meeting on Wednesday, September 17th at 7:00 PM at the South Plainfield OEM building. At that time, we will be taking count and placing a group order for license manuals for the class. Marv and I are both ARRL Registered Instructors, and a such we can apply for a group rate for the manuals.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
