Taking the Radio out of RadioShack

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rsk_logo_do_stuffYou’ve probably heard that RadioShack is rebranding itself to be The Shack. This has triggered another round of criticism of RadioShack stores, with the usual tired references to “Rat Shack”, “Radio Schlock”, or worse.

Apparently, RadioShack has failed to live up to the expectations of the technorati. Well, it is true: RadioShack is the worst chain of electronics store in the US. It is also the best chain of electronics store in the US. That is, it is the only one we have with any breadth of coverage. (The RS web site claims that 94 percent of America lives or works within 5 minutes of a RadioShack store or dealer.)

So what’s going on here? Electronics experimenters, computer geeks and ham radio enthusiasts all lust after having a local store that stocks all of the parts and trinkets that they’ll ever need, with knowledgeable staff and reasonable prices. We want RS to be the electronic equivalent of the local hardware store. In reality, RS is more like the local Walgreens store than a hardware store — offering up what sells quickly and not always what we want.

So now remove RS from the picture — imagine that all of their stores closed overnight. Would our access to electronic treasures improve? I don’t think so. In fact, we’d really be hosed in most parts of the US. (If you have a great electronics store nearby, count your blessings.)

There are some RadioShack stores that operate above the norm — they are usually the franchise stores that are not owned by the RS corporation. These stores augment the RS product offering with product that serves their local community. One example is my local RS: Tri-Lakes Electronics in  Monument, Colorado. They do a pretty decent job serving their customers and I try to give them business whenever possible.

You might hypothesize that something better could evolve out of today’s RS (something more substantial than a “rebranding”). When I think of this possibility, I imagine larger stores and better product selection. I don’t think it is realistic to have a deep stock of every possible transistor, capacitor, resistor and integrated circuit… this might work in San Jose but not across the US.  I do think RS could be a stronger supplier of computer networking gear, connectors, cables and adapters (the things that it takes to make all of the electronics stuff work). A bit more like Fry’s Electronics but without the appliances and Jolt cola. (Interestingly enough, Fry’s has plenty of detractors, so serving the ‘tronics market appears to be a tough gig.) I also think some (not all) of RS products need an upgrade in quality (e.g., their RG-8 cable is lean on shielding…and where is the 9913 Flex equivalent?). A thorough scrubbing and makeover of the product list could really help.

So if you were in charge of RadShack, how would you change it?

And would you make any money at it?

73, Bob K0NR

This Spewed Out of the Internet #7

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0511-0701-3118-0930This is the usual “catch up” posting, when I don’t have a specific topic but try to share some interesting things flying by on the internet.

I came across this article about poor passwords being the biggest computer security problem (as opposed to viruses and worms). OK, maybe so. Using passwords like “password” and “xyzzy” may not be the best approach. (If you recognize “xyzzy”, that says something.) How about we come up with a new approach to computer security that doesn’t require me to have 23 different passwords, all of which need to change every 3 months? And then the security guys get grumpy if we actually write these down.

I had another gosh darn mf  &$%$# meltdown on my notebook computer, but fortunately everything was backed up using Carbonite. Unfortunately, it took 14 days to pull the data back off Carbonite onto my new netbook computer. That download time seems a bit excessive, don’t you think? I don’t know what the problem is with Carbonite but it is not just me..do a little googling binging on “carbonite slow restore” and you’ll find lots of unhappy customers. Or check out the reviews on Amazon.com. I have taken Carbonite off the Bob’s Preferred Vendor List. Don’t use them.

From the Maturing Market Department, MFJ buys Cushcraft amateur antennas. We’ll probably see more of this.

I already mentioned the Colorado 14er Event, which is tomorrow morning (Sunday August 9th). We will have quite a crew on Pikes Peak…including an HF station, most likely on 20 Meters SSB. Look for us around 14.260 MHz with callsign K0YB.

Apparently, RadioShack is in the process of rebranding itself to be simply The Shack, according to Engadget.com.  Interesting development….how much “radio” stuff do they really carry anyway?

73, Bob K0NR

Colorado 14er Event – August 9th

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I woke up yesterday to the idea that it really is August 1st and that July is now history. I understand how that happens… I just don’t know how it happens so freeking fast!  If August is here, then it is time for the premier mountaintop ham radio event: The Colorado 14er Event.

What is that, you ask? It is ham radio guys having fun in the mountains, where Height Above Average Terrain takes on a new meaning.  

Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains to set up amateur radio stations in an effort to communicate with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Radio operators with 14er climbing experience who plan to climb a 14er should log their name and intended peak at the HAM 14er Yahoo group.

I will be operating from the summit of Pikes Peak with a crew of other ham radio operators, using club callsign K0YB.

Last year we had a California operator (N6IZ) get on (yes, they have mountains there, too) and work one of the Colorado summits (N0B), for the first 14er-to-14er interstate QSO. See the goathiker (WG0AT) video for the full story:

 

We expect to have some California 14ers on the air again this year. Not only that, the K4S team in Kansas is planning to ascend the highest point in the state: Mount Sunflower at 4039 feet !

This is too much fun.

   73, Bob K0NR

This Spewed Out of the Internet #6

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0511-0701-3118-0930Lots of interesting things spewing forth from the internet these days:

Jeff KE9V articulated a compelling vision of web-based (“cloud computing”) ham radio logging. This caused a lively discussion among some readers (read through the comments on Jeff’s blog). I found the idea interesting but I am inherently suspicious of the notion of “cloud computing”.  (“I give you all my information and trust that you’ll do the right thing with it.”) As I read through the comments, I realized that what interested me was the idea of having all these logging programs playing well together and with other applications such as Logbook of the World. Right now, this is mostly a pain. That seems to imply we need well-designed standards that define how the software interoperates, whether it exists on my PC or in the cloud.

Jeff also had a great post about narrow-minded thinking. Reminds me of my previous post about Religion and Ham Radio.

The Fi-Ni Report had a hilarious piece about a ham that puts a small VHF/UHF vertical on top of a 100-foot tower:  Ham Claims New Tower is Not Overcompensating.

On a more serious note, it seems that some folks are concerned that the proliferation of radio communications towers are killing off certain migratory birds. This is the first time I have run across this issue, which surprised me a bit. A little Googling Binging on the web finds quite a few articles about it. It seems that the birds fly into the towers or guy wires, especially at night.

I found this spoof of Apple by The Simpsons on You Tube. Pretty funny….unless you are an Apple Fan Boy.

Scot, K9JY, publically admits to buying an Apple computer. One of my daughters has also turned into a Mac fan. I tell her, “Sure, if you want the silly computer to just work, buy a Mac. If you want to dig in and learn all about configuring networks, troubleshooting software problems, understanding file formats and becoming a real computer user, then get a PC. If not Windows, then Linux.”

In case you haven’t heard, the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing is coming up on July 20th. There is a really cool site (http://www.wechoosethemoon.org/) that is recreating the events in real time (40 years later). Check it out. What a reminder that we can accomplish amazing things if we commit our hearts and minds to it!  Unfortunately, it is also a reminder that it is easy to sit on our butts for 40 years and not accomplish much in space.

73, Bob K0NR

Standard USB: Missed It By That Much

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usb-cable-mini-bI’ve blogged in the past about the need for standardization, especially when it comes to computer cables and power adapters. I have been feeling quite good about the progress I have been making with my personal collection of electronic gizmos. I’ve noticed that most of them have lined up behind the idea of using a mini-USB (Universal Serial Bus) port for both power and data. Now how cool is that? Someday, I might be able to carry one USB cable and a AC adapter and have it handle all of my information-age cabling needs.

Then I got a surprise: I upgraded my personal mobile phone to an LG enV3. Great, it also has a little USB connector on it, so it will be compatible with my other devices. Bzzzt. Wrong!  It turns out that the enV 3 has a micro USB port which is about the same width but thinner than the mini USB. It seems that the USB Implementers Forum decided that the mini USB was just a bit too fat for slimmed down mobile phones and personal digital widgets. And the mobile phone industry has decided to standardize on this new slimmer connector.

Then I had to admit that I remember when the mobile phone guys announced this new standard. I just missed the fine point about mini vs micro. I thought we were already mini and micro enough!

I see now that the ham radio manufacturers cleverly avoided this whole mess, clinging to that industry giant, the old reliable RS-232 serial port! Their late adopter (never adopter?) behavior has saved them the agony of flipping the USB port.

On a similar note, Apple will apparently never move away from their proprietary iPod connector, so they have also shielded us from the pain and agony of using an affordable, standard connector.

I guess I need to go find a micro-USB to mini-USB adapter somewhere.  Like this one.

73, Bob K0NR

XE1MEX Satellite DXCC

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dxcc-logoDuring this busy Field Day weekend, I received an email from Alex XE1MEX reporting that he has achieved DXCC via Satellite. This is quite an accomplishment since he made most (or all?) of the contacts via LEO satellites. It turns out that I have worked XE1MEX several times on the FM birds from home and from PJ4 (Bonaire) and HR3 (Honduras). Although I have not been on the OSCAR satellites lately, a few years ago it was a major focus of my ham radio activity…resulting in VUCC on Satellite. I made it a point to activate rare grids and countries whenever I could and it was tons of fun!

It is great to hear that Alex achieved his goal of DXCC. I really appreciate that he took the time to thank the hams that helped him get it done by activating the various countries. It brings back memories for me…maybe I should dust off that Arrow II antenna and go find an island to activate!

73, Bob K0NR

Dear friends,

Today, I am celebrating the submission of my application for my DXCC Satellite award !.
All of you made a great contribution to make my dream came true and I really appreciate your support to achieve one of my important goals as amateur satellite DX operator.

All of you were operating out of your home when we had our satellite contact. On most of the cases, I did not get any other contact with those DXCC entities afterwards; therefore without your cooperation I would be still far away of achieving my long awaited goal (almost 10 years working/confirming):

Ramón, XE1KK> HC8/XE1KK, KP2/W1RSV, PJ7/VE7RKK (and others…!)
Drew, KO4MA> FS/KO4MA, KG4MA, VP2EAG
Allen, N5AFV> VP2V/N5AFV, J79AFM (and others…!)
Bob, K0NR> PJ4/K0NR, HR3/KB0CY
Neil, VA7DX> 3DA0WC, 7P8NK
Yoshi, JF6BCC> T88IY, KH2GR
Vladi, LZ3XV> 5N0EVR
Rafael, XE1GRR> XF4DL
Dave, W2VV> VP5/W2VV
Wayne, W9AE> FG/W9AE
Jerry, K5OE> 9Y/K5OE
Neil, W6FOG> W6FOG/6Y5
Nori, JE1PLR> A22BP
Bill, N2COP> N2COP/C6A
Francisco, CT1EAT> CT3/CT1EAT
George, DU1KIR> DU1/GM4COK
Rolf, DK2ZF> EA6/DK2ZF
Wayne, N5WD> V31WD
John, N8QGC> N8QGC/VP9
Jean, F6CBC> FM/F6CBC
My appreciation too for the satellite operators of the DX-peditions:
GB4FUN, VP6DIA, TZ6RD, 5K0Z and K5D

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL OF YOU AND BEST 73 !!
Alex, XE1MEX

Summits On The Air Video

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I’ve been thinking a bit about “Trail Friendly Radios” for VHF in preparing an article for QRP Quarterly. I came across this video about choosing radios for use in the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program. SOTA is a fun program from Europe that has found some interest in North America. The basic idea is an awards program that encourages operations from the various summits in a region. This has some similarity to the Colorado 14er Event and its associated awards.

Anyway, here is the video by Richard G3CWI:

This Spewed Out of the Internet #5

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0511-0701-3118-0930Catching up on the fine material spewing out of the web. Remember, if it came from the internet it must be true.

Newsflash: The DTV transition has happened and the world has survived. It just doesn’t matter, because it is television. To quote Joey from Friends, “it is a moo point….a cow’s opinion.”

Brian Wood, W0DZ, has opened a ham radio store in Loveland, CO. Good luck with it, Brian.

The Fi-Ni Report says there is a movement to regulate the speed of Morse Code. Really funny. I am not sure who is writing this stuff but their mind is sufficiently warped….which I like.

Did you miss the ARRL June VHF QSO Party? It was a party. Excellent 6 Meter propagation from Colorado to most parts of North America.

In the What’s Up with That Department, Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH is now on the QRZ staff. I guess qrz.com is serious about cleaning up its act….they brought in the enforcer. I am a fan of Riley’s and best of luck to qrz.com.

From the This is Stupid Department, I came across this blog posting about teaching Fortran as a programming language in college. This is totally nuts. Maybe criminal.

I’ve been trying out Verizon’s broadband internet service, using my tethered mobile phone. I have to say this is pretty sweet, even if it costs $50/month. I was looking for a way to get internet up at the cabin in the mountains. No DSL or cable there, so the choices are limited. The Verizon signal is acceptable (could be better) but actually seems more usable for data than voice. (I guess we are more tolerant of dropouts on data feeds than on voice.)

73, Bob K0NR

Flag Pole Radio Tower

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img_23341I have gotten into the habit of taking photos of interesting radio sites. This all started as part of my general tendency to visit mountain summits to play ham radio. It turns out that for some reason, there are quite a few radio installations in high spots. Hmmm, imagine that.

So I started taking photos of the more interesting ones. One thing lead to another and I now have a photo collection of lots of different towers, antennas and radio sites. Fortunately, my spouse thinks this behavior is cute…other people find it a bit crazy.

So I am driving west on Highway 24 and I see this really big flag pole at Lake George, CO. It just doesn’t look quite right— a bit too fat. I drive closer to get a better look and, sure enough, it is really a cell site with an antenna disguised as a flag pole. (This is at the US Forest Service work camp. )

Clever design, I think.

73, Bob K0NR

Jeep Wrangler Radio Install

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One of my toys these days is a Jeep Wrangler (TJ) which we use for playing in the mountains. I finally got around to installing some ham radio equipment in it a few weeks ago. I mostly wanted to have good old 2 Meter FM – the amateur radio utility mode – in the vehicle. These days, it makes sense to include 70 cm (440 MHz) as well.

img_2349
The Jeep Wrangler

The first priority was to pull the old AM/FM receiver and put in a new Sony CDX-GT430. Crutchfield supplied excellent installation instructions and soon I had the center portion of the Jeep dash pulled out and the receiver installed. This work gave me valuable experience in pulling the Jeep’s dashboard apart. Not surprisingly, the Wrangler disassembles quite nicely with just a few screws here and there and a handful of those snap-in-place trim fittings to undo.

img_2355
Sony AM/FM/CD Receiver installed

The next job was to get a dual-band Yaesu FT-7800R 2M/70 cm transceiver installed. This is a one-frequency-at-a-time dualbander, very easy to use with all the required FM features. Originally, I thought I would just bolt the unit down in a convenient spot and call it good. As I surveyed the Jeep, I realized that I could do much better using the detachable control head approach (using YSK-7800 separation kit). The control head was mounted to the main plastic piece that covers the center of the dash using a pair of angle brackets from the hardware store. The radio box went under the back seat… somewhat protected from weather when the top is down and definitely not in the lower part of the Jeep floor. With the hardtop off, a hard rain can cause a small lake to accumulate inside the Wrangler. (I know from experience.)

img_2354
Yaesu FT-7800R control head

The most challenging decision turned out to be what antenna to use and where to put it. Mobile antennas are always a trade off between radiating effectiveness, ease of installation and overhead clearance. The Wrangler has a removable hardtop, made of fiberglass. This presents two problems: the fiberglass makes for a lousy ground plane and there will be times when we go topless. So a roof mount was not looking very attractive. Another choice was on the spare tire mount, which hangs off the back of the vehicle.  I’ve seen a few installations like this that look good. It looked like a more complicated installation and I was not sure how well the antenna would radiate off the back of the vehicle.

img_2359
Side view of FT-7800 control head with microphone installed

In the end, I chose to mount a short dual-band antenna on the hood near the driver’s side, using an NMO-style mount with one of the L-shaped trunk mount brackets. This is not the best location for antenna efficiency but it would be “good enough” for most use. The antenna is a 1/4-wave on 2 Meters, about 19 inches long, also tunes to 70 cm. The low profile has the added advantage of not getting pounded down by tree branches on the back roads. And I can take the hard top off without changing the antenna configuration. Did you spot the antenna in the first photo?

img_2360
Dualband 2M/70 cm NMO antenna

The Jeep had a obvious rubber plug that I poked through to get the DC power and antenna connections through the engine firewall. Per the usual guidance from the transceiver manufacturer, I connected the power cable directly to the 12-volt battery (with fuses in line).  The antenna seems to pick up a bit of ignition noise due to the close proximity to the engine, but it is tolerable.

Off to the mountains to have fun.

73, Bob K0NR

Recovering from Hamcon Colorado

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hamcon_logo_09It has been a few days since I left Hamcon Colorado at Estes Park, but the glow hasn’t worn off yet! What a great event!

Joyce K0JJW and I drove up to Estes on Thursday night so we could help with the final setup on Friday morning. Brian N5ZGT (ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Director) gave a fine keynote address on Friday night. This was followed by Harold Kramer WJ1B, COO of the ARRL. Harold gave a Powerpoint tour of ARRL headquarters, which I found interesting.

The real show started on Saturday with tons of excellent technical and operating forums. I admit to some bias here as I did a presentation on Test Equipment for Amateur Radio and did a team presentation on the Colorado 14er Event. I attended a presentation by Mike Higgins K6AER on Lightning Safety. Mike did a great job of explaining proper grounding of an amateur station based on his commercial experience. Virgil Leenerts W0INK talked about switching power supplies, also an interesting presentation. Mike Gruber W1MG (EMC Engineer at ARRL HQ) covered powerline noise…a topic that has gotten quite a bit of my attention lately. Mike (W1MG) and I (plus a handful Technical Specialists in the section) staffed the Doctor is IN booth, answering any and all questions from the convention attendees.  There were plenty of other forums that I could not attend based on other obligations but the feedback I heard was all positive. The only negative comment received was that we should have had a forum or two on contesting (valid feedback).

In between activities, I managed to chat with a number of hams I had not seen in quite a while. It is always good to connect up with old friends. W1AW/0 Special Event station was active…I did not get a chance to operate the station but I did make it a point to work them on 2 Meters with my HT.

We attended the banquet on Saturday night, also a great affair. Yes, it did go a little long but don’t they always? The breakfast on Sunday morning featured Gordon Harman W0RUN speaking about the Desecheo Island DXpedition. Gordon did a fine job mixing in a few tales from Peter I Island.

The attendance of Hamcon was 499, so the size pales in comparison to Dayton (duh). But I think the quality of the venue, the program and the people involved is far superior.

73, Bob

Managing the Social Network

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0511-0701-3118-0930I’ve been playing the “social networking” game online for a while now, primarily on linkedin, twitter and facebook. Linkedin has turned out to be quite useful from a work/professional point of view as it has enabled me to connect with people I have worked with in the past and lost contact with. I try to keep it professional and not let much personal and hobby stuff leak onto the site. See my linkedin profile here.

I’ve commented on twitter in a previous post. These little tweets of 140 characters seem to have some usefulness but it has to be carefully managed. Mostly, I follow people that tweet interesting technology or ham radio comments, and I try to do the same in return. I don’t think very many people care to hear about the minutia of my day such as when I leave for work and when I do lunch. You can follow me at www.twitter.com/k0nr , if you’d like.

I had registered on facebook a while ago but pretty much avoided it until recently. I was concerned that my college-aged daughters would accuse me of stalking them. And they did 🙂  Lately, though it is clear that facebook has migrated from being a college kid thing to being a mainstream tool. Heck, even my mom is on facebook now.  I use this mostly for family and close friends and try to keep the ham radio stuff from bleeding over there…otherwise I run the risk of all of my family blocking me :-).

I tend to think that facebook has the right formula, since its “status update”  is about the same as a tweet from twitter. But facebook also threads status updates and comments from other users and has a more robust set of privacy options. Also, you can share photos and other applications on facebook. You can do some of this with twitter but it seems like more of a pain to do. Facebook does have some annoying advertisements but they are generally tolerable.

Anyway, that’s how I am handling these super whizzy social networking things. How about you?

73, Bob

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Backing Up the Acer Aspire One

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Aspire OneI’ve posted a few items about the Acer Aspire One netbook (with SDD and Linux) which have generated some positive comments. See Sweet Little Acer Aspire One PC, More on Netbooks,  and My Tweaks to the Aspire One Netbook.  One thing I’ve noticed is that the Thunderbird email client has a nasty habit of losing a critical file and tossing out all of the email messages. Because of this, I’ve taken a bit more care to backup the email messages and address book (which you should be doing anyway).

Here’s the simple procedure I use to back up the critical folders on the Aspire One onto a USB thumb drive.

Exit all applications

Insert a USB flash drive into one of the USB ports (File Manager should automatically open. If not, open up File Manager manually.)

Click View and select Show Hidden Files. Some of the files we want to copy are hidden, so this let’s us see them.

Select My Disk (over on the left side of File Manager). Then drag the .thunderbird folder over to the USB drive, which will copy the files onto the USB drive. This may take several minutes depending on how many files you have.

Also drag the .mozilla folder over to the USB drive, copying the Firefox bookmarks and other settings

You can copy any other folders that you want to back up

Click the eject drive icon on the right side of the USB drive indicator (left side of File Manager). This closes down the USB drive and prepares it to be removed.

If you ever experience a loss of email information, simply insert the USB drive and drag the .thunderbird folder back onto the Aspire’s main drive (My Disk).

Remember, you don’t have that much SSD drive space on the Linux Aspire, so be sure to delete unneeded email messages and other files.

73, Bob K0NR

This Spewed Out of the Internet #4

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0511-0701-3118-0930Things have gotten quite busy at work, which is why I haven’t posted anything recently. The spare time I have has gone towards getting ready for Hamcon Colorado, as I have signed up to do two presentations and a few other tasks. Here’s some items that are worth mentioning that spewed out of the internet.

I haven’t seen the new Star Trek movie yet but Saturday Night Live did a skit relating to it. Also, the classic Shatner “Get a Life” skit is out on youtube. Both of these can be viewed here.

Speaking of youtube, the Society for Geek Advancement (huh?) has a video that features all of your favorite geek celebrities. Is “Geek Celebrities” an oxymoron?

The FCC posted some recent enforcement letters concerning amateur radio cases. Go Laura Smith! Included in this list is a nastygram to the idiots at Xcel Energy which is having trouble tracking down power line noise problems in Northglenn, Colorado. As the ARRL section Technical Coordinator, I had some involvement in this incident — all I will say is that it’s difficult to tell whether Xcel is incompetent or just irresponsible. Hard to say.

Speaking of the FCC, they have really gotten caught with their pants down in their analysis and handling of Broadband over Powerline (BPL). Thanks to the ARRL for keeping after them and getting the suppressed FCC documents via the Freedom of Information Act. Here’s a good article about it from an non-ham-radio source, ars technica.

K3NG raised the question of whether it is possible to have a useful amateur radio web site without the trolls and misfits. It seems that qrz.com is attempting to rise to the challenge. Good for them.

I stopped by the DTV.gov site that has information concerning the migration to Digital TV in the US. I was surprised to find that they added quite a bit of detail about when TV stations are switching over. Also, they have an interactive map that gives you estimated TV signal strength in dBm at an arbitrary location.  (Yes, real live technical information !)

From the Amateur Radio Fun in the Mountains Department, there is a group planning to create a packet radio link that extends the length of the Appalachian Trail (The AT Golden Packet Annual Event).  Sounds like fun to me.

73, Bob K0NR

One More Hamcon Colorado Reminder

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From: Steve Williams KØSRW <k0srw@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, May 12, 2009 at 9:48 PM
Subject: [Committee] Email for your clubs!

HamCon Colorado 2009 kicks off in just over 2 weeks, May 29-31, 2009 in stunning Estes Park, Colorado. Estes Park is the gateway to one of our nation’s most treasured prizes, the incomparable Rocky Mountain
National Park.

Through May 14th, save $5 from the walk-in price!  Visit our on-line registration page at www.HamConColorado.org.  It’s easy, it’s fast and it’s secure!  While registering, be sure to sign up for our Saturday luncheon, our Saturday evening banquet, and our Sunday morning breakfast!  All three feature great food, superb friends, and
outstanding speakers!

Registration goes up $5 on May 15th.  And, on-line registration closes altogether on May 20th at 10 PM MDT.  You can always register at the event for only $20, but we won’t have any more luncheon, banquet or
breakfast seats available then.

Don’t miss out, register now!

We’re also pleased to announce our Grand Prize, an ICOM IC-706MKIIG with a remote kit!  If you registered before March 1st, 2009, you’re in our Early Bird Prize drawing for a brand new Yaesu FT-8900 with a
remote kit!  And, we’ve even got a Yaesu VX-7 as our Special Bonus Prize.

You won’t want to miss out on the more than 35 technical sessions covering just about every ham radio topic you can think of.  Check out the Conference Schedule page at www.HamConColorado.org for more information on these!

More prizes!  HamCon Colorado 2009 is delighted and grateful that more than 115 prizes have already been donated by a large cadre of wonderful manufacturers, vendors and organizations.  Take a look at
the Prize Donations page at www.HamConColorado.org.  Even if you’ve got bad luck, you’re bound to see it turn for the better at HamCon Colorado!

Visit with your favorite manufacturers, stores and clubs!  They’re all listed on our Exhibitors page at www.HamConColorado.org.

Need more?  Ok, stop by our Silent Auction where you’ll bid against each other for great radios from Yaesu:  an FT-950, an FT-857D, a VX-7R, and two FT-2800s!  These radios are completely factory refurbished, factory packed, and factory tested.  They come complete with a 90 day factory warranty.  You’ve not seen auction starting prices like the ones we’ll have on these beauties!  Cash and PayPal
only please!!!  This will be a lot of fun!

There’s even more:  a VE Session, and a massive W1AW/Ø operation (sponsored largely by ICOM and Heil Sound) where you’ll truly be on the other end of the pileups with some excellent equipment!  Try sending morse with your left foot in our hilarious QLF contest, and practice your skills in our dastardly CW Pileup contest, or our outdoor transmitter fox hunt.  If you’ve never been to an ARRL Wouff Hong ceremony, now is definitely the time!

There’s something for everyone at HamCon Colorado 2009, and we sure hope to see you in Estes Park, May 29-31, 2009!

73,

Steve Williams, KØSRW
k0srw@earthlink.net

This Spewed Out of the Internet #3

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0511-0701-3118-0930Here’s some things I found spewing forth from the Internet:

When Charles Simonyi was operating amateur radio station NA1SS from the International Space Station (ISS), I was looking around for the right frequencies to use, including doppler shift. I came across a really good web site on contacting the ISS. Check it out if you are interested in the topic.

According to Amateur Radio Newsline, the Indy cops that got in trouble for using ham radio gear for tactical communication were using modified Yaesu FT-2800 2-Meter Transceivers. With these radios opened up, they can operate outside the ham band on adjacent VHF frequencies. According to ARNewsline:

Some conversations were heard in the VHF police bands, at the bottom of the 2-meter band and on frequencies assigned to the MURS radio service.

MURS stands for Mult-Use Radio Service, an unlicensed radio service defined by the FCC. There are 5 MURS channels available: 151.820, 151.880, 151.940, 154.570 and 154.600 MHz.  These unlicensed channels would be a convenient location to hang out without the potential of interfering with anything important. However, a modifed amateur radio transceiver is not certified for use per Part 95 of the FCC rules.

I have not found any other information on the VHF police frequencies being used. Some departments maintain their licensing for VHF channels after adopting the newer 800 MHz radios. Modified amateur radio equipment is not certified for use on police channels. It sounds like these police officers were also using the low end of the 2-meter ham band. Even if they are licensed, it would be an inappropriate use of the frequencies. And a dumb one….of course someone is going to hear them and figure out what is going on.

You may have heard about Stephen Colbert from the Colbert Report getting his viewers to vote for his name on the new ISS module. It seems that he got the most votes but NASA declined to name the module after him (like that was going to happen). They came up with the alternative of naming a treadmill after him….all in good fun. The video is available on the Comedy Central web site.

On the K3NG Report, there was a funny post about the demise of phone operation on the ham bands, which is caused by the lack of testing for phone operating skill during the licensing process.

On the KB6BU Ham Radio Blog, there is an interesting post about the HP-35 calculator…a classic electronic product and an elegant design. The IEEE named the HP-35 and Hewlett-Packard Company as the recipient of the Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing award.

73, Bob K0NR

Getting Ready for Summer!

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hamAs I sit here looking out the window, I see snow piling up on the back deck. Yep, spring time in the Rockies with a winter snow warning on Easter. It seems like a good time to take a look at upcoming amateur radio events this summer.

Here’s my starter list, with a definite bias towards Colorado, VHF, mountaintopping and radio contests:

Hamcon Colorado ( AKA the ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Convention) in Estes Park – May 29-31.  This is a wonderful event that comes to Colorado once every three years. As the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park is a great vacation spot, so don’t miss it!

ARRL June VHF QSO Party This is The Big One for VHF activity – June 13-15. June usually has very good propagation on 50 MHz, so we’ll usually have a band opening or two on 6 Meters during the contest. If you are new to VHF contesting, see the article How to Work a VHF Contest.

ARRL Field Day– June 27-28. We are still not sure if this is a contest or not but the truth is you can make it whatever you want it to be! Arguably the most well-known and publicized amateur radio event. See my previous post.

CQ Worldwide VHF Contest – July 18-19. This is The Other VHF Contest during the summer, sponsored by CQ Magazine. This contest is gaining in popularity and is focused on the two most popular VHF bands: 6 Meters and 2 Meters.  Hey, CQ, if you want people to take this contest seriously update the web site with the 2009 rules!

The Colorado 14er Event – August 9.  Focused on operating from the summits of Colorado’s 14,000+ foot mountains, this is The Premier Mountaintop Radio Event.   Check out the web site for full details….if you aren’t up to the mountaintop operating, then set your goal on working as many summits as you can from a more convenient location. Join the ham14er yahoo group to discuss and learn about the event.

The Colorado QSO Party – Sept 5-6. This contest is a fun event that focuses on activating the various counties in Colorado. Consider setting up mobile or portable to activate a rare one or two!

73, Bob K0NR

2009 ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Convention

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This item was in the ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Update (email newsletter):

===== 2009 Rocky Mountain Division Convention =====

About ONE month remains til the 2009 Rocky Mountain Division Convention
(May 29-31). Have you made plans to join close to 250 hams (and
growing) in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado...gateway to Rocky Mountain
National Park? Registration online and by mail is happening right now,
and special hotel rates have been negotiated for convention attendees.

Among the guest speakers: Harold Kraemer WJ1B (ARRL Chief Operating
Officer), Gordon Hardman W0RUN (2009 Desecheo Island DXpedition
participant and chief engineer of Alpha Radio Products), Mike Gruber
W1MG (ARRL EMC Engineer and contributor to "The Doctor Is IN" QST
column), Cheryl Muhr, N0WBV, YL columnist for WorldRadio Online
(formerly WorldRadio Magazine), Editor for YL-Harmonics the Young
Ladies' Radio League's (YLRL) Bi-monthly magazine, and Brian Mileshosky
N5ZGT (Director, ARRL Rocky Mountain Division).

Nearly 30 technical and non-technical forums, great meals, transmitter
hunts, special event station W1AW/0, and much more await you.  Not to
mention one heck of a time meeting and greeting hams from all over the
Division and country.  It'll be a great event with a very fitting
theme: "Amateur Radio: Resilient, Relevant, Ready"

The hotel, where the Convention is being held, is almost at
full-capacity, so reserve your room soon!

Please mark your calendars and visit the Division convention's website
at http://www.hamconcolorado.org for more details, including
registration information.  Join us for a great time at an awesome
venue!

AMSAT DL Bounces Signal Off Venus

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amsat-logo-semi-officialEvery once in a while, I stumble onto something that just makes me think “holy cow, how did they do THAT?”

The most recent is the German AMSAT group ( AMSAT DL) transmitted a signal to Venus and received the reflected signal as it came back to earth.

From the AMSAT (US) web site:

AMSAT-DL Achieves Outstanding Technical First:
Earth-Venus-Earth Path

Marburg, 27 March 2009 – On March 25, 2009 the AMSAT-DL team in Germany attained a major milestone in their mission to send a spacecraft to Mars. The team used their mission control station at the IUZ Sternwarte Observatory in Bochum to transmit a radio signal to Venus. After approximately 5 minutes delay and after traveling nearly 100 million kilometers the reflected signal from the surface of Venus was received. This was the first time a German station has received echoes of signals from other planets.

You may be aware that it is a common feat for radio amateurs to bounce signals off the moon and hear the return signal. Hardcore VHF enthusiasts contact each other on the VHF and higher bands by using the moon as a reflector. (Sometimes I kid them that using the moon as a “repeater” is cheating. Of course, it is nothing like that.) This mode is called Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) or simply Moonbounce. The path loss is high, around 250 to 310 dB, so high gain antennas and power amplifiers are required. EME is still on My List of Things to Do and I hope to get around to it someday.

If EME is an accomplishment, then consider the challenge of Earth-Venus-Earth (EVE).  The original press release is in German but the information is available in English on the Southgate Amateur Radio Club web page.  The signal traveled almost 100 million kilometers which results in a round trip delay of about 5 minutes. This is over 100 times the distance for EME.  The frequency used was 2.4 GHz, with an FFT analysis used to pull the signal out of the noise (with an integration time of 5 minutes). I have not seen an analysis of the path loss, so we’ll just use call it ginormous.

Why did AMSAT-DL decide to do this? Well, they want to prove out the feasibility of communications before they launch their spacecraft towards Mars!

73, Bob K0NR

ARRL Field Day 2009

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2009-fd-logo-298x200The ARRL Field Day is one of the more popular and fun ham radio events during the year. You or your club can make Field Day whatever you want: a real contest, some time out in the woods, a public service event, drinking beer with your buddies …. whatever.

Field Day this year is June 27-28.

The ARRL promotional materials for Field Day are now available on their web site.

Here is the Public Service Announcement video:

By the way, the ARRL logo for Field Day looks good. Nice work by the ARRL graphics department!

73, Bob K0NR

Added on April 12th: Noticed a good Field Day post by K3NG