This Interference Seems to Follow Me Everywhere

USB chargerA few weeks ago, I was at my day job working diligently on something. I popped up the SotaWatch web site to see of anyone was out activating SOTA summits. Sure enough, Steve (AKA Goathiker, AKA WG0AT) was headed up Mt Herman for the day. (I have recently declared Mt Herman to be the Most Radioactive Summit in Colorado…at least for amateur radio.)

When I had a few minutes break, I went out to my amateur-radio equipped SUV in the parking lot to call Steve on 146.52 MHz. Steve came back to my call and we made a quick contact and he was in the log. Even though he was an easy line-of-sight path away, I had trouble copying him. Opening the squelch revealed that I had a large noisy signal sitting on 146.52 MHz. I didn’t think too much of it and assumed it was coming from the vast array of electronic equipment inside the building.

As I left work that day, I tuned to 146.52 MHz to see how quickly the interference disappeared as I drove away. I was surprised to find that the interference did not go away, it was covering a wide area. On my commute home, the noise was remarkably constant. This interference seems to follow me everywhere! Eventually, it sunk in that the interference was coming from my own vehicle. Huh, I didn’t have that problem before.

When I arrived home, I turned off the ignition and the noise was still there. I started disconnecting everything in sight, trying to make the noise disappear. Finally, I unplugged the cute little USB charger/adapter that was inserted into the cigarette lighter socket. Bingo, the interference disappeared. It seems that this little adapter has a switching circuit in it that is generating a large amount of hash. I have not investigated it fully, but it trashes out a substantial portion of the 2 Meter ham band.

It used to be my favorite adapter. Buyer beware.

73, Bob K0NR

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The Noise Blankers: Running Loose on the Interwebz

noiseblankersI am always on the lookout for great ham radio information on the internet. I haven’t found any lately but I did come across The Noise Blankers radio group web site. It was difficult to tell if these guys are really serious or not but they do have an Official FCC Club Callsign (KF5TQF) so they must be legit. Who I am to disagree with this endorsement from the Federal Government?

The mission statement of the club is:

  1. Do radio stuff.
  2. Have fun doing it.
  3. Show people just how fun it is.

This mission statement is very much in harmony with The Universal Purpose of Amateur Radio, so that is a good sign!

I see that the club has posted cutting-edge reports about a West Virginia ham who bought his wife an Alpha amp for Valentines Day,  a Michigan man that declared himself to be a new DXCC entity and the problem causing the Logbook of The World backup. Check their website frequently for more exciting ham radio news.

I have been unable to confirm the rumor that this group is a renegade element of the Lost Island DX Society (LIDS), still presumed to be missing somewhere in the Chihuahuan Desert.

73, Bob K0NR

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GNT Shirts Now Available

GNT

The Committee to Preserve Golf November Tango is pleased to announce the availability of the new GNT Polo Shirt. The origins of the GNT frequency traces back to the incident when three ham radio operators found themselves stranded on the shore of Lake Michigan, calling out in desperation for Gin and Tonic. You may recall the unfortunate circumstances that caused confusion about the correct Golf November Tango calling frequency.

Fortunately, this has all been cleared up and The Committee has authorized the sale of the Golf November Tango shirt, with the official GNT frequency embroidered on it. (It seems that the group is really bad at documenting things, so they figured that if they all had a shirt with the frequency written on it, it could only help. See the logo shown to the left.)

These awesome polo shirts are available online in both mens and womens sizes at the Ham Radio Techwear store. The committee apologizes that these shirts are a little late for Christmas presents, but there is always next year.

Remember, when all else fails, make a call on the GNT Frequency.

73, Bob K0NR

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Bdale KB0G Makes Stuff!

Last week, I had lunch with an old friend, Bdale Garbee (KB0G). Bdale and I had both worked at HP for a number of years and we have been involved in some common ham radio clubs and activities. I followed the test and measurement path with Agilent Technologies when that company was formed, while Bdale stayed with the HP computer business. He is a recognized industry expert in Unix, Linux and all things open source. It is always cool to catch up with him and find out what he has been doing. He recently took early retirement from HP…I am not sure what “retirement” means for Bdale but its not playing shuffleboard at the retirement home!

Coincidentally, a few days later, I came across this video from HamRadioNow of Bdale talking at the ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference. In this talk, Bdale discusses the general theme of making stuff and the satisfaction that is derived from that activity. It is about an hour long so grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a seat.

 

By the way, check out the other HamRadioNow videos, especially the videos of the DCC technical talks. Good stuff!

73, Bob K0NR

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What’s All This SOTA Stuff?

w0sotaThe Summits On The Air (SOTA) program is seeing increased activity in the US. SOTA represents another one of those crossover activities that combines amateur radio with another activity, in this case hiking. The whole idea is to operate ham radio from a designated list of summits or to work those radio operators on the summits.

I’ve always had this fascination with Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT) and how that can really make a difference for radio operating, especially on VHF and higher. This means that on most hikes of any altitude, I’ve got some kind of radio gear with me.

To get an idea of how the SOTA program operates, check out these web sites:

The SOTA program provides some structure for this activity and a method to keep score. I’ve noticed throughout my ham radio experience, having a specific goal (usually in the form of an award such as WAS, WAC, DXCC, etc.) has been a good motivator for me. In some ways, I don’t like the notion of “keeping score” entering into a fun hobby, but I have to admit that sometimes it helps. The SOTA database is a robust system that keeps track of summit activations and contacts made. I don’t have a specific goal yet, other than to activate summits when I have the opportunity and to work as many of summits on VHF. (Yes, my VHF/UHF bias comes through again.)

To get a feel for the action, take a look at the Activator Scores, click the Filter selection to W0-USA (or other call area of interest), click on Show!. You’ll see the list of hams that have been activating summits, such as K0MOS, WG0AT, N6UHB and KD0PNK. You will find my callsign a ways down the list. Similarly, you can look at the Chaser Scores,  also selecting the call area of interest and clicking on Show!

But wait, there’s more! The SOTAwatch web site provides a way to spot active summits and to alert people of future activations. Clicking on Summits, leads you to a useful set of data about each summit. For example, Devils Head (designated as W0/FR-051) is a summit that I activated on 15 Jul 2012, with SOTA info available here.

So check out SOTA…you might find it fun to activate summits or you may just decide to be a chaser. Or maybe both. Anyway it works out, it will be fun!

73, Bob K0NR

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What Frequency Do I Use on 2 Meters?

HRS LogoOne of the more popular articles on my web site is Choose Your 2M Frequency Wisely, which explains the 2 Meter (144 MHz) band plan. VHF and UHF band plans are mostly local in nature and there is no one band plan that works across the US or North America. So that article is written specifically for the band plan in my own state of Colorado.

I recently wrote a new Shack Talk article for HamRadioSchool.com that covers the same topic in a more general way for North America. I called this article What Frequency Do I Use on 2 Meters? Please check it out!

- 73, Bob K0NR

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Need A Logging Program for VHF Contests?

 

vhf logAs I prepare for the ARRL January VHF Contest, I loaded the latest version of VHF LOG, a software program by Dave W3KM. I have used this free program for many years and it just rolled over to version 4.0 to support Windows 8.

VHF LOG is easy to use while covering the basic contest logging requirements for the usual VHF contests (ARRL January/June/September, CQ Worldwide VHF, etc.). It includes a “Post Contest” mode, which is handy for entering a paper log into your computer for electronic submission.

VHF LOG runs on Windows operating systems, 98SE thru Win8. Check it out.

73, Bob K0NR

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Lost Island DX Society Assumed to Be Lost

LIDSThe rumors have been circulating for some time now, that something terrible has happened to the Lost Island DX Society (LIDS). The Fi-Ni report was last heard from on Sept 18th of last year, reporting on the 3rd Annual Talk Like a Pirate Contest. Previous to that, their comprehensive Field Day report was a bit confused, openly questioning whether Field Day is actually a contest. This has fueled speculation that the LIDS are suffering from some type of psychological breakdown. Others have suggested that this group is perpetually confused and no inference can be drawn from strange behavior.

A reliable source has reported that the LIDS team was actively working on a DXpedition to New Mexico. These plans were alledgedly scrapped after a well-known Big Gun DXer told them that New Mexico is actually part of the United States and is not a separate DXCC entity. This same source has suggested that the LIDS have gone into hiding and plan to resurface just in time for a surprise multi-multi-multi-25-radio entry in the 2013 Poisson d’Avril Contest. However, most radio hams close to the LIDS believe that the team got lost on the way to New Mexico and died of heat exhaustion in the Chihuahuan Desert.

Anyone that has any information on the status of LIDS or that might have heard them on the ham bands, is encouraged to contact this blog as soon as possible. We all hope and pray for their quick, safe return.

73, Bob K0NR

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50 MHz VUCC Via Logbook of the World

VUCCSome time ago, I qualified for 50 MHz VUCC from another location (rare grid DM67, operating portable). Lately, I have been racking up grids on 6 Meters from my cabin in DM78. Since a VUCC award is good for a set of locations that are within 200 km of each other, these new contacts count as a separate VUCC award entry.

After the ARRL Logbook of the World (LoTW) added VUCC to the list of supported awards, I started watching my grid count climb. When the grid count hit 200, I decided it was time to apply for VUCC from the new location.

There are a lot of things about LoTW that are a pain but getting this award was easy. A few clicks on the LoTW web page and I submitted an application for 50 MHz VUCC using 203 grids. The fees were significant: $46.45. This breaks out as $12 for the award fee, $1 for endorsement sticker (indicates 200 contacts), $3 for an LoTW application fee and $30.45 for confirming the 203 grids (15 cents per grid). This might seem steep until you compare it to the mailing and other costs of getting 200 confirmed QSL cards. Assuming a 100% response rate and an SASE for each confirmation, it costs more than $1 per confirmed grid or >$200. With a lower response rate, the costs are even higher. And this ignores the time it takes to organize and send out the cards.

I happily paid the fee using my VISA Credit Card and the VUCC certificate arrived in my mailbox a week or so later. This is awesome!

73, Bob K0NR

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Comments Turned Back On

It seems that the comment feature on my blog was inadvertently turned off. I don’t know how this happened but it is now corrected. If you wanted to comment on recent postings, please come on back!

Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks to Hans PD0AC for pointing this out.

73, Bob K0NR

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