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Amateur Activity From KB9Q's Narrow
Perspective
Usual disclaimer for spelling, grammar, punctuation and
accuracy!
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146.52 Simplex Calling Frequency; Monitor For Mobile
Emergencies
Help Those Unfamiliar With Local PL's & Repeaters
To be added or removed from this mailing, send your call sign to [email protected]
"Say all you have to say in the
fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them;
and in the plainest possible words or he
will certainly misunderstand them."
-- John Ruskin
Greetings:
I'VE DONE SOME SSTV BUT HERE IS A REPORT ON ATV
FROM FAITHFUL READER KC9BVS, CHRIS. By the way Chris, the DX record on 322
GHz is 1.4 km -- DX depends on your frequency!
Dear Sherm,
I am writing
this to tell you about an ATV contact I had with N9AB in Northern
Illinois. We exchanged location information on 144.340 MHz NFM at
approximately 10:50 pm Friday night July 2nd. After honing in on my
signal he sent his which I was able to copy at times near P5!
I am excited about this contact, I thought for sure I
was "not getting out". He described my shack and was able
to pick up both color and sound.
As you know this is quite a wide banded signal so
this distance and our success was probably due to excellent
conditions. At the time of our fast scan video qso I was monitoring
the Chicago Police Department covering the Milwaukee police
department. When I heard that I knew the band would be
"open".
There is life on wide band ATV at 439.2500MHz (cable
channel 60)!
I am aware that there is a repeater in the works for
ATV in Milwaukee. Now I just have to buy the 1.24 GHz transmitter
and Amplifier to hit the darn thing.
I am happy to say simplex ATV can be DX and, even
though it was just Northern Illinois, it seems like a victory to me.
Enjoy your Newsletter.
Sincerely,
Chris
KC9BVS
EVERY WEEK . . .
6 meter SSB, M, Tu,Thu, at 9:00 PM,
Tu, 9:00 AM all on 50.160 MHz. (Central Time)
"Breakfast roundtable", Mornings at 7:30 AM (Central Time)
on 144.155 MHz USB
(Covers South East Wisconsin, South West Michigan, Northern Indiana
and North East Illinois)
MAARS SBB Net: 144.230, Thursday, 8:00 PM Central Time. NCS Milwaukee
Area
For updates on ARRL Wisconsin http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=WI
10-10 International: Monday - Saturday 1800 UTC 28.380
MHz (also 28.800 MHz with propagation)
Cross Country Simplex Group (FM) Sunday, 9:00 AM, 146.565 MHz and
Tuesdays at 8:30 PM, 223.5 MHz. NCS in Gurnee, Illinois (Central Time)
HERE'S A REPORT ON FIELD DAY FROM FAITHFUL READER
AND 160 METER CRONY AB8NB, RICK. He enclosed some fotos of preparation
of the site that included moving some raccoons from operating
positions!
Sherm,
I joined some of the 1895 Khz, 160 meter group as they supported the
Thumb Area Amateur Radio Club on field day. It was held on the
property of Del, KB8NNE. He has a pond with a small building nearby.
it was a great site and W8SLC and I strung a 160 meter di-pole in the
trees so we could check into the net. We did. Lots of fun. The
attached photos are of Del, KB8NNE kicking out the squaters that had
taken up residence in the building. One of Del and a closeup of one of
the three little rascals what wanted our donuts. Lots of radio fun was
had as well.
Rick, AB8NB
EVENTS
CENTRAL STATES VHF SOCIETY, 2004
Conference Mississauga, (Toronto area) Ontario Canada, July
22-25, 2004 http://www.csvhfs.org/
ARRL and TUSCON AMATEUR PACKET RADIO (TAPR):
23rd Annual Digital Conference, September 10-12, 2004 De Moines
Iowa http://www.tapr.org/dcc/
HERE'S MORE INPUT FROM FAITHFUL READER W9SFB, SAM.
You might be interested in looking at
"amateur" Marlon Brando's home address, etc. on QRZ.com,
etc.. KE6PZH Real name is Brandeaux
(Pronounced Brando) He also operated under FO5GJ, SK from an Island
Home in the South Pacific Ocean.
IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING USING THE PSK-31 MODE on the
new Echo satellite I'll be glad to forward the data to you. I have the details
on program mods that will help in the effort from G3PLX,
Peter Martinez the father of the mode. (The five paragraphs
would take up too much space here.)
CONTESTS
FIELD DAY ON THE CARFERRY BADGER, OPERATING AS W8M.
For pictures, check out Mikes site, www.kc8wja.org.
He included some with this message but I did not want to burden those
with dial-up. More reports on Field Day from you LANDLUBBERS are still
welcome!
Subject: Field Day 04 Status
Hello
All,
Here is the long awaited summary of how The SS. Badger Field day
went. Sorry for the Delay, but I came home Sunday night, dump out my
bags, repacked and headed out again. I'm just going to ramble off a
few notes and clean it up for the web site later. so if I rambles-
consider it the 4th. of July party talking
We
started setup Saturday morning around 05:30 - 06:30. - No
pictures! - You don' t want to see us in the AM!
Loading
went very well, the badger staff carried all our stuff up on their
supply truck to the top of the board. we only had to load and unload
the stuff. what more could we ask for??
The SS.
Badger - it amazed my how many contacts had never heard of the
badger. many as soon as you said Ludington car ferry picked up, but
many were confused with the Muskegon ferry or thought the badger was
scrapped. I glad we got the word out!
We had
2 Icom 706's for HF. Our antenna placement when well. we had a long
wire running from the back of the smoke stack to the aft stanchions/
support some 30's about the ship. down to the aft Roof Deck. this
was some where in the 200' range. worked great. for the other 706,
we had to try a few different configurations. as the first HF was
interfering with the latter. I haven't totaled up the log books now,
but I do 40 & 80 were hot. the little HF I did was quite the
pile up. Hats off to the HF guys, that takes a set of ear. everyone
had a change to work HF (Even Pat - KC8WBS) I think she's hooked
with HF. now we have to get her to upgrade past her husband Bob
- N8UYC!
We
worked (more that once!) W1AW/90 - this is the W1AW vintage
AM-capable station donated by Joe Walsh, WB6ACU, and audio pro Bob
Heil,K9EID. The gear, which arrived June 18, consists of a National
NC-303 receiver and Johnson Viking Valiant transmitter, along with a
customized Heil microphone and other accessories.
VHF:
Didn't hear a thing on 2M SSB or 6M SSB
2M FM Simplex - When very well. we were using the good old tired and
true 3/4 Copper J pole. worked like a charm. most contact were while
we were out, based on come the the E-mail I have received, sounds
like we were heard a lot further that we could hear (one report from
La Crosse, WI, while we were near the middle of Lake Michigan,
heading back to Ludington !)
440 Simples - Nothing Heard, QRZ.
900Mhz. - 1 contact. !!! Better that I thought.
2m APRS - We a big hit. I've received e-mail of people who watched
us cross, either via APRS or on the Web (www.kc8wja.org).
I sorted thru the logs, 392 unique contact via messaging on APRS.
much bigger hit that I thought it would be. also a hit among the
passengers, the were fascinated that we could show where we were at,
and all the other hams. this sparked a how slew of questions from
passenger as to how it works, what amateur radio was, etc. I stated
out having a log of those that were interested, but quickly became
too busy to keep it up to date. next year we need to at least two
people for public interaction during the Day passages.
GOTA:
Had a dozen or so non-ham's actually talk on the air. I
was amazed by how many people were interested, but too shy to talk. a
feather in our cap was many Non-active ham (14) who either no
longer are active or let the ticket lapse, were interested. many
'more experienced hams really picked up on the APRS and PACKET. they
had never seen it, and many said they use MSN or Yahoo instant
messenger. they could relate to that wanted info. I hoping we got
the back in to the hobby.
Had 3
hams on board that were thrilled to death to see us onboard. they
operated while there. ( I think the one gentlemen abandoned his
family for the trip. to operate - we'll blame that on ken!)
Public
Display:
Many of the General public were very interested to find out what
ham radio was. most thought it was just HF or like 'CB's'. I gave
the speech more time than I can remember. they were amazed at
first and when they learned of our Public assistance role, Support to
government, etc.. , most people were shocked to hear that we
have lost frequencies and may be losing more. many comments were to
the effect of "..I can't see why the government would even
consider taking away Frequencies and should be giving more
space.."
Now if only
half of all the people I talked with write their
representative and the FCC as I informed them was the best way to
help, we'll be in great shape! We handed out a ton of ARRL
brochures. would have been best I they were in color, but the was
the best I could do
Public
Notice:
I was interview by the Ludington paper, and did a phone interview
with a Wisconsin paper. not sure if it was printed yet, but it
was Great PR!! thanks to tom - K8BIV for the press release in the
25th. hour with next to no notice!
We'll
be putting together an article for QST magazine.
A Rare
Gem:
we were able to work the International Space Station (ISS) via APRS.
This was a first for all of us onboard. voice contact was attempt,
but we could make it thru, too many others, and most likely wrong
antenna setup, but it was a thrill. After the first pass the word
spread thru crew and passengers, as soon as the second pass occurred
we had a crowd of passengers and crew (not sure who was steering the
boat !) I could hear a WI stations get into the the ISS, this was a
thrill, so we know we were close! We could hear the ISS on pass
three, but no dice on working them. they are only visible for less
the 2 mins. usable for 30 sec or so.
The
sailing for great - calm water all times. it did get cold on
Saturdays return trip at 00:00, darn cold. but we came prepared.
this is when ken and I got out 2 Hr. cat nap (I'm getting too old
for 2 Hr of sleep in 48+hr.) on the forward deck. took sleeping bags
and a reclined lawn chair - Poof instant bed at sea. clear night
with real country dark (if your a city dweller, this means no street
light.)
Don -
our on board astronomer - pointed out a moon of Venus? it was
visible with binoculars. what a sight!
Everyone
had a great time. got to make new friends and meet new people. we
even got a tour of the engine room, Plus. (Ken's pictures will be up
on the web site shortly)
The big
questions what would we do different?
a few things, we are working on a list, but not much. this we very
well think the the dedicated staff of operators.
Will
I do it again?
Hope too. I going to start work on it. the badger crew were happy
with us and we made friends - so stay tuned for next year.
I will
be posting more info and pictures on my we site shortly (Still have
to clean up today after the 4th of July party! )
Have to
have a few picture now!! Here are a few: - see the Web for more.
Thanks
for all you help,
MWS
Michael W. Smith
KC8WJA
Grid:EN72
SWAPFESTS
MEETINGS: Send me your meeting dates 10 days ahead
for a timely announcement here.
7:30 pm, Wednesday, July 14 2004
Grafton Senior Citizens' Center
1665 7th avenue, Grafton Wisconsin.
REMEMBER IF YOU ARE GETTING THIS EPISTLE
"SECOND HAND," I just need your E-mail address to send these
electrons directly to you.
73, Sherm KB9Q, (EN52vv)
"A paranoid is someone who knows a
little of what's going on."
-- William S. Burroughs
"People only get lost in
thought because it is unfamiliar territory."
--Paul Fix
"There are two things that are more
difficult than making an after-dinner speech:
climbing a wall which is leaning
toward you and kissing a girl who is leaning away from you."
-- Winston Churchill
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