KD8BIG: My Week

This week has been a rough one for me. I have been under the weather. I am hoping things settle down soon.
I have not had the opportunity to investigate new equipment or even think about the many Hamfest we have coming up over the next several months leading up to Dayton.
This year I am hoping to make the trip to the Dayton Hamfest. I have received e-mails from several asking me if I plan on attending. I guess the best answer is as long as I am feeling healthy enough to travel.

I did get me a new toy; I got me a new iPod. This time it is the classic, replacing my SanDisk.
iPod classic gives you 160GB of storage capacity, good for up to 40,000 songs, 200 hours of video, 25,000 photos, or any combination. And you get up to 36 hours of battery life, so you can keep on rocking for a long, long time.
I wanted to get the iPod Touch but really did not have the need for the money it cost. 200 dollars is easier to part with compared to 400+ dollars.

Other than that, I am behind the eight ball on my Stamp Collection and have to order some fly tying materials to keep me busy. I also plan on cleaning out some of my sports cards I have collected since I was a kid.
Remember;
A Hobby a Day Keeps the Doldrums Away.
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I recieved an e-mail asking me what is a Doldrum.
Doldrums definition is;
dol·drums: (used with a sing. or pl. verb)

1.

a. A period of stagnation or slump.

b. A period of depression or unhappy listlessness.

This Weekends Contest and News

QRP Fox Hunt	Jan 28
NCCC Sprint Ladder	Jan 28
CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW	Jan 28-30
REF Contest, CW	Jan 29-30
UBA DX Contest, SSB	Jan 29-30
SPAR Winter Field Day	Jan 29-30
WAB 1.8 MHz Phone	Jan 29
Classic Exchange, CW	Jan 30-31
ARCI Fireside SSB Sprint	Jan 30

Dayton ConTest University - CTU USA 2011

WRTC 2014 Team Selection Critera Released

2010 WWSA Update

New Amateur Radio Operators Organization

98th Anniversary of the Titanic Disaster

2m qrp spring qso party 2010

2010 Maritime Radio Day

Contest University Italy 2010

Friedrichshafen Contest Univ. Survey

Articles of Interest

The chill is definitely in the air this weekend.
Yesterday our high was somewhere around 15º I believe, I never got a chance to look at the weather gauges. Today is expected to be about the same. Our local airport reported a record snowfall total of 10.7 inches for Saturday January 22, 2011. I measured 13.2 here at my QTH. The lake effect bands make it difficult to say where and who got the most snow. It could be a +- 1-4 inches with in a few hundred feet to a mile.
Did not get around to the radios yet this weekend, I might not have the opportunity today either. A busy morning is planned followed by some afternoon football.
Go Packers!!!!
I am also cheering for the Jets.

Here are some articles of interest;

NASA solar sail is finally flying free above Earth

IEEE EMC Society Standards Development Committee Withdraws as Cosponsor of IEEE BPL EMC Standard

NASA nano-satellite belatedly ejects from orbiting mothership

ARRL Files Petition for Partial Reconsideration with FCC Regarding Vanity, Club Call Signs

Hamming Around at Sea

Amateur Radio World Castles Award

Wrong E-Mail Address

A lesson to be learned from one typing the wrong email address:

A Michigan couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Michigan and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email, expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen, which read:

To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I've Arrived
Date: January 21, 2011

I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send e-mails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here!

This Weekends Contest

This weekends contesting opportunities

NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint Jan 20
Locust QSO Party Jan 20
RSGB 80m Club Championship Jan 20
QRP Fox Hunt Jan 21
NCCC Sprint Ladder Jan 21
YL-ISSB QSO Party, SSB Jan 22-23
BARTG RTTY Sprint Jan 22-23
ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes Jan 22-24

NASA needs Amateur Radio Operators

NASA is asking for help from the Amateur Radio Community.
I think this is really cool.
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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 11:30 a.m. EST, engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., confirmed that the NanoSail-D nanosatellite ejected from Fast Affordable Scientific and Technology Satellite, FASTSAT. The ejection event occurred spontaneously and was identified this morning when engineers at the center analyzed on board FASTSAT telemetry. The ejection of NanoSail-D also has been confirmed by ground-based satellite tracking assets.

Amateur ham operators are asked to listen for the signal to verify NanoSail-D is operating. This information should be sent to the NanoSail-D dashboard at: http://nanosaild.engr.scu.edu/dashboard.htm. The NanoSail-D beacon signal can be found at 437.270 MHz.

Further Reading; click here

Follow the NanoSail-D mission operation on Twitter at:

http://twitter.com/nanosaild
For additional information on the time line of the NanoSail-D deployment visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/501204main_NSD2_timeline_sequence.pdf
To learn more about FASTSAT and the NanoSail-D missions visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats

Special Event Station N6R

This looks like a fun one to work.

N6R

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library And Museum, ARRL Field Day By The Ventura County Amateur Radio Society, With Conejo

Valley Amateur Radio Club, Simi Settlers Amateur Radio Club, &

Ventura County Amateur Radio Club, CA

USA

To celebrate what would have been former President Ronald Reagan’s 100th Birthday, the Ventura County Amateur Radio Society will activate Special Event Station 'N6R' from Thousand Oaks, California. This, from Saturday, February 5th through Monday, February 7th.

According to Peter Heins, N6ZE, who is the club's Public Information Officer, operation is planned continuously from 0800 through 1800 PST on Sunday, February 06, 2011 and intermittently at other times on Saturday through Monday.

Operation will use CW and SSB on 80 through 10 meters for world-wide c contacts as well as FM on both simplex and repeaters for local area contacts. Requests for schedules may be sent to n6rn6r at aol dot com.

QSL with a self addressed stamped envelope to N6ZE at his Call book or QRZ.com address. Sorry but no electronic QSL’s will be accepted for this operation.

More is on-line at www.qrz.com/db/n6r.

And for those not aware, the special N6R call sign has been used for many years in a multi-club Field Day operation from the grounds of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum which is located in Simi Valley, California.

Ice Fishing in Style

The other day we went for a ride to the lake and see what the fishing conditions were. While watching the fisherman on the ice we notice a truck w/ trailer and a machine I have never seen. As we walked up to the trailer I realized this is the toy I need.
It is a Wilcraft, an Amphibious Ice Fishing & Hunting Vehicle. This vehicle comes with many options and the proud owner I talked to claimed that his was about 12 grand, a price well worth the money.
For more on this machine; click here

Articals of Interest

Lots to do today. DX is in the top 5 list. I may only have an hour or two better than nothing.
Stay tuned to my Twitter Account for more info.
http://twitter.com/#!/KD8BIG
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*Radio communication still kicking (New Zealand)

*Being blind doesn't slow down Marshalltown man (Iowa)

*Valley ham radio group raising funds to replace trailer (Alaska)

*FCC Sends License Renewal for K1MAN to Administrative Law Judge

*SA AMSAT Cubesat project needs programmers

*Solar Report 0950 16 Jan 2011

*Forecast Space Weather 0950 16 Jan 2011

New Amateur Radio Bill Introduced in Congress

The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act, which died at the end of the 111th Congress, has been reintroduced in the 112th Congress as HR 81 http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c112:2:./temp/%7Ec1129bpLP1::. The sponsor is Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18). The new bill -- which was introduced on January 5 -- has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. "We are hopeful that this early start will lead to success in the new Congress," commented ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ.

Rep Jackson Lee first introduced the bill -- HR 2160 http://www.arrl.org/hr2160 -- in the 111th Congress in April 2009 http://www.arrl.org/news/houston-representative-introduces-amateur-radio-bill-in-congress. It gained an additional 41 cosponsors but did not progress out of the committee of jurisdiction. A similar bill introduced in the Senate -- S 1755 http://www.arrl.org/news/senate-introduces-companion-bill-to-hr-2160 -- made it all the way through that body in December 2009, but likewise was not taken up by the House. The objective of the bill -- which is supported by the ARRL -- is for the Secretary of Homeland Security to study the uses and capabilities of Amateur Radio communications in emergencies and disaster relief and to identify and make recommendations regarding impediments to Amateur Radio communications, such as the effects of private land use regulations on residential antenna installations.

Source: ARRL Letter

DXØDX POSTPONEMENT

I saw this on Twitter; DXØDX POSTPONEMENT
I know of several hams who was looking forward to this.
----------------------------------------------------

To the DX Community at large – It’s with regret that as Team Leader, I have to announce the postponement of the DXØDX Spratly Islands DXpedition 2011, due to circumstances beyond the control of the DXØDX Team.
To read more; click here

My Weekend

I had intended on spending some time working DX over the weekend, it was a good plan but fell apart rather quick Saturday afternoon.
In the morning I made a few contacts on 20 & 40 meters. I was hoping to hear special event station VE8SUN but never heard them. I made contact with Alabama, Florida and New York stations. Other than that the pileups were big on SSB.
While trying to get through to some stations I started playing around with some newly acquired stamps and logged them into my files and next thing I know the radio was off and I was tying flies, then the NFL games started followed by Red Wings Hockey. That was my Saturday.
Sunday was even worse; I never got the radio on, never touched any stamps and did not even make one fly.
Maybe this week I will have better luck.

6 Meter Guru Award info

I saw this in an e-mail and it also was tweeted to me.

The "6m Golden Guru Award" is given to the ham who predicts closest to the date and time of the first transatlantic QSO of the year between continental North America and EU/AF "USA, Canada or Mexico" to "Europe, Africa" on the 6 meter band. No Caribbean, those guys have their own propagation.

The winners face and call sign is added to the 6 meters online and will have reserved status of "THE 6 METER GOLDEN GURU" for the remainder of the year!
For more info; click here

Special Event Station VE8SUN

A world that is in 24 hours of darkness this time of year, we hope to hear that radio signal come through our transceivers. A call from special events station VE8SUN.
VE8SUN will celebrate the return of the sun in Inuvik, located in the Northwest Territories. It’s a small dot above the Arctic Circle, the sun sets for the last time every year on December 6th and does return again until January 7th.
This year on January 8th and 9th, 1800Z-2359Z, the Inuvik Amateur Radio Club will operate VE8SUN during the annual Inuvik Sunrise Festival

Meteor Scatter - Geminids 2010

The Geminids meteor shower last month, December 2010 got a lot of attention from amateur astronomers, Meteoritics and amateur radio operators. Here is a great article written by Dr David Knight of the Norman Lockyer Observatory Radio Club.
Dr Knight monitors a high-power transmitter close to the Alps on 143.049.
This article displays a Long head echo with pronounced overshoot, but no trail echo. This is probably due to a satellite in low Earth orbit. This is common, hearing reflections from aircraft. The question was asked by G4VXE, if this would work with Satellites and the ISS?
Read the article by Dr. Knight; click here

This Weekends Contest

I might give it a try, then again I have not been on the radio very much this week. Actually I think the last time I was on was New Years Eve.
This weekends contest. Good Luck.

QRP Fox Hunt	Jan 7
NCCC Sprint Ladder	Jan 7
PODXS 070 Club PSKFest	Jan 8
Hunting Lions in the Air Contest	Jan 8-9
MI QRP January CW Contest	Jan 8-9
WW PMC Contest	Jan 8-9
ARRL RTTY Roundup	Jan 8-9
North American QSO Party, CW	Jan 8-9
EUCW 160m Contest	Jan 8-9
SKCC Weekend Sprint	Jan 9
NRAU-Baltic Contest, CW	Jan 9
DARC 10-Meter Contest	Jan 9
NRAU-Baltic Contest, SSB	Jan 9
Midwinter Contest	Jan 9

ICOM's ID-E880

This looks like a neat little toy to have. One day I do hope to purchase an ICOM rig with the D-Star capabilities. At the moment there is a D-Star Repeater in my area but I am unsure how much activity it receives. One day I may listen online. If you are interested in listening to DSTAR audio feeds via the internet, then you have two options:

Listen direct on my server at http://radio1.ham-radio- op.net:9008 or via the Radio Reference Web Site at http://www.radioreference.com/apps/audio/? ctid=321 Users on Radio Reference need to scroll to bottom of page then click on the speaker icon next to the Dstar feed name.

Back to the ID-880;
Icom is pleased to announce the debut of the ID-E880 mobile VHF/UHF dual-band, D-Star transceiver. The ID-E880 is designed to be easy to use and contain a new ‘DV mode’ feature which allows the operator to access D-Star repeaters in just two steps. The ID-E880 mobile is the successor to the ID-800H mobile transceiver and retains many of the features of its predecessor including switchable dual-band capability, detachable controller and 50W power output. The usability of the ID-E880 has been improved with a larger LCD display and a high speed scan capability of up to 50 channels a second. The ID-E880 is ideal for a range of users including foundation licensees, anyone new to D-Star and Ham organizations such as Ray-net that are looking for a simple GPS position reporting system.
To read more on this rig, click here or click here

Videos for ID-E880

FTM 350 and Begali CW Machine Review

YAESU FTM-350R Review along with the Begali CW Machine.

KD8BIG; Additional Blog Topics

So I have put a lot of thought into the many hobbies I have such as Amateur Radio, Collecting Stamps, Sports Memorabilia and Fly Tying. Yes, Fly Tying. I use to really enjoy fishing since I was a kid till 2006.
Fly Fishing was something I done when I was 13-25, taught by both my grandfathers. When they passed away I had no-one to fly fish with.
Now my son is into fishing and wants to learn about tying flies and the art of being a Fly Fisherman.
I have found my old fly tying rig and it looks like I need to order new material. It’s a far cry from antenna building but it is something I can do in my radio room or in my recliner.
Back to my reason to this post, I started a Stamp Blog back on October 2nd. I just have not really had the ambition to log out of one blog and log into the other and visa-versa. So I am considering re-establishing my KD8BIG amateur radio blog to KD8BIG, Amateur Radio Operator, Fisherman and Stamp & Sports Memorabilia Collector.
However, I am not going to change the URL or anything regarding this site. You’ll just see post on other hobbies of mine as well as Amateur Radio topics.
Stay Tuned.

Amateur Radio Antenna and Power Lines

It's a story we hear of so many times. Amateur Radio Operators installing an antenna and not paying attention. Please my friends, look above before installation.

A 22-year-old Venice woman was hospitalized late Saturday after she was reportedly shocked by a power line.

According to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, Rachel Hinkle was erecting a structure in the 300 block of Sea Grape Road just after 11:30 p.m. when it touched the overhead electrical wires.

Hinkle was taken to Venice Regional Medical Center in serious condition.

Power was restored to most of the neighborhood.

Continue Reading

Portable HF Station

This is cool. I got an e-mail and also discovered this is also posted on the SARC page.
It is a long video.

Graig VK3VCM has produced a 1080p HD video giving his ideas and tips on how to successfully operate full power portable HF.

The YouTube description reads:

My ideas and tips on how to successfully operate full power portable HF and have a great day operating an Amateur Radio HF Station outdoors.

There are two types of 'portable'... If you're planning on running a few watts QRP then 'portable' means a backpack and off you go... however if you want to run a bit more power portable, you'll need to consider a few extra things which are surprisingly easy to overlook... I know this because on a few occasions I overlooked them!

Hopefully this video helps or inspires someone, somewhere, to get out and operate portable! I'm keen to get your ideas and tips on how to make portable operation more fun and easier too.. please comment and reply with your own videos.

73, Craig VK3VCM

Watch How I operate my 100 watt HF Portable Amateur Radio Station by Craig VK3VCM

The Cool Thing about 2011

Just think, at 11:11:11 UTC time the date will read as 11:11:11 - 1-1-11.
The only thing cooler is November 11-2011. Then it will be 11:11:11-11/11/11