Newsletter_September2011

Mountain Topping from Bradbury
by Tim Watson

The Wireless Society of Southern Maine ventured to the top of Bradbury Mountain on November 6th to operate some ham radio and enjoy the fall weather. As it turns out, this is a very popular hiking destination, as a steady flow of visitors stopped by throughout the day. According to the park ranger, more than a thousand hiked to the top!

The popularity of this spot gave us a great opportunity to talk about ham radio and meet a lot of people. The band conditions were excellent, especially with 10 and 15 meters opening up, and Rory's fan dipole helped us make a lot of radio contacts. The highlight of the afternoon was when Cub Scout Pack 97 stopped by. We gave them a demonstration of amateur radio, and we were lucky enough to get a few of the kids on the air, thanks to a ham near Nashville, TN, who took the time to talk with them.

The band conditions really were exceptional. For a little while, we had a pipeline into South Africa on 15 meters! We couldn't have picked a better day, either, as far as weather goes, especially considering it was only a week after a snow storm. The autumn colors were still visible in the trees and it was so clear you could see as far as the ocean to the east, and all the islands off shore. Everyone had a good time, and I think it served as a good warmup for a SOTA event in the near future.

The view from atop Bradbury, and the KB1PLY 10m/15m fan dipole

Frank, WA1PLD, Steve, K1MV, Tim, KB1HNZ, Rory, KB1PLY, Thom, W1WMG, Dave, KB1FGF, and Charlie, W1CPS

Tim talks to a group of Cub Scouts that stopped by
Photos by Frank Allen, WA1PLD - Click here to view more images from the event

Steve, K1MV, and Thom, W1WMG, working DX on 15 meters

Carving Out Time for Ham Radio
by Dan Romanchik, KB6NU

On a recent episode of This Week in Tech (www.twit.tv), Leo Laporte, W6TWT, mentions ham radio, and a guest asks him how much time he is spending on the air. Leo, who just recently got his Tech license says “Zero!” and laughs.

This is not uncommon. Lots of people seem to get a ham radio license and then do very little with it. I think one reason for this is that they don’t take into account how much time the hobby really can eat up. They get their ticket because it seems like a cool thing to do, but then they have to carve out some time to actually be a ham radio operator. Even if you don’t make any of your own gear, setting up a station takes time, and then there is the operating time, of course. Carving time out of busy schedules—and I would guess that Laporte has a pretty busy schedule being the owner of TWiT—is a challenge.

I see things like this all the time. At one ham radio club meeting that I attended, the club vice president asked, “OK, here’s the question of the month. How many of you actually got on the air in the past month.” Less than half of those in attendance raised their hands. Geez, I thought to myself, why do they even bother to come to meetings if they don’t get on the air?

Making time for ham radio

So, if you’re a busy person, how do you make time for ham radio? Well, being the Internet geek that I am, I Googled, “making time for things you love.” I got a lot of links to sites that talked about work-life balance and some new-age blogs, but none of them offered much in the way of concrete advice.

Then, I Googled “make time for hobbies” and right off the bat, I found two good articles—7 Creative Ways to Make Time For Your Creative Hobby! (http://www.exploringwomanhood.com/homelife/hobbies/maketime.htm) and 5 Ways to Make Time for Your Hobby (http://o5.com/5-ways-to-make-time-for-your-hobby/). Both articles offered very similar advice. Here are four points that both made:

1. Schedule it. Set aside a specific time during which you’re going to do ham radio. Don’t let that time get pre-empted.

2. Designate a place in your home for ham radio. Having to set up your radios or dig out your tools every time you want to operate or build something is not much fun and wastes a lot of time. Having a “shack” and a workspace designated for your projects will let you spend more time on the fun stuff.

3. Partner up. Arranging to work with another ham will make it harder to blow off ham radio for some other activity. Besides, it’s a lot of fun to do things with other hams. If you’re a newly licensed ham, find an Elmer. There really are plenty around who would be willing to help you.

4. Create a project plan. Setting up an amateur radio station is no small feat. Breaking it down into smaller chunks will make it seem more doable, and you’ll get a feeling of accomplishment when you meet your in-between goals.

There’s so much to learn and do in amateur radio that it can seem quite overwhelming. I think that’s one reason why so many Techs never really get into the hobby and why some experienced hams drift away. I think if you follow the advice above, though, you’ll not only find the time to pursue amateur radio, but get a lot more out of it.

When he's not down in his shack, working with a friend on yet another amateur radio project, Dan writes amateur radio study guides. You can find them on his website at www.kb6nu.com/tech-manual. Make some time to e-mail him at [email protected].