Emergency Operations

Momento Mori

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So here I am, sitting down. I just finished kegging my blonde ale and now it is a matter of waiting for it to carbonate. One nice thing about brewing beer is that most of the work is done by yeasts. Once you make them a nice home they go to work procreating and when they have had their fill of procreation, they become factories. They take in sugar and other fermentables and process it into alcohol and gas (CO2). Wonderful little critters.

It is always a good thing to question your own motives. Why did I join a certain club? Better yet, what am I giving to the club to make things better? Clubs will die from lack of activity. When I first got into ham radio I joined a local club. On paper the club had over 50 members. I never saw more than a handful at meetings and the only activity the club did was a half-assed attempt at Field Day. The “leadership” of the club was content to do nothing and there was a sense of ennui throughout. Basically the club was dead. I am hoping that history does not repeat itself. I am currently in a new club that needs a boost. I realize that there are a lot of things in a persons life and priorities have to be set but a little time can be spent on a positive thing.

Carry On Lawnmowing

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Well, I was able to finish taming Satan’s Putting Green prior to the commencement of the rain. It is amazing how fast it grown. Now my neighbor will have to mow his. It’s a never-ending competition. I had my car in for repairs. Now I am sorta relaxing and playing on the radio. Got a cup of coffee in hand. I am hoping that the band propagation gods smile down on me. Speaking of radio, it is almost field day. I have a suggestion for a field day antenna to try. They are simple to build and are quite effective. I am speaking, of course, of a Z-L Special. They are a mono-band antennas and are easy to put together. They consist of 2 folded dipoles spaced .1 wavelength apart and driven 135 degrees out of phase. There are a lot of web pages and Youtube videos that detail the construction and if you are reading this then I believe you can find them on any search engine. 🙂 My point is if you want a simple to construct antenna for field day or for other use, this is a good one to try. You can even build them as a rotary beam. I had a 20M one that I loaned out and it never got returned but I am planning to build another one soon for 17M.

Namaste Again

The Power Is Yours

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I had the opportunity to do some troubleshooting the other day. I was operating my HF radio on 10.111 MHz and suddenly it turned off. It came right back on and I continued. A short while later it turned off and stayed off. Hmmm … A small table light stayed on (plugged into the same power bar as my power supply) so I knew the issue had to be either the power supply or my radio. I turned on my VHF radio and it came on. I did observe one of my cats in the general vicinity of the back of my desk where my wiring is. I turned the power supply off and looked around the back where the radios attach. Sure enough, the positive wire from my HF rig was disconnected. It turned out that the spade connector had come off after being interacted with by one of my catz (bad crimping on my part). I crimped on a new connector and attached it to the power supply. When I turned everything on, the HF radio powered up and has had no further issues. Problem solved. Why am I sharing this? Maybe to illustrate the point that it is always best to check the simple solutions before you dig yourself in to much deeper territory. If I had started with the radio as the issue, I would have spent several hours testing and finding nothing. Instead I looked at the simple things first and fixed the problem in just a few minutes.

Namaste, Y’all

One More Lap in the Rat Race

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There is currently a thunderstorm going on. It has rained 18.29 MM in the past hour. Gotta love it. I had left my windows in my car cracked open and had to venture out into a waterfall to close them. One good thing, the storm has lowered the outside temperature from 32 C to 21 C. It makes it a lot more comfortable. Unfortunately, I can’t use my radio right now as I have no desire to have my equipment fried by lightening. It might be an exciting afternoon. Here is a copy of the NWS bulletin:

Special Weather Statement issued May 22 at 2:​47​PM EDT by NWS State College

…STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL IMPACT SOUTHWESTERN SCHUYLKILL…
NORTHUMBERLAND…DAUPHIN…EAST CENTRAL FRANKLIN…EASTERN SNYDER…
SOUTHEASTERN MONTOUR…SOUTHEASTERN COLUMBIA…CUMBERLAND…EASTERN PERRY AND NORTHWESTERN LEBANON COUNTIES THROUGH 330 PM EDT…
At 246 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along a line extending from Northumberland to 14 miles south of Selinsgrove to near Carlisle to near Chambersburg. Movement was east at 25 mph.
HAZARD…Winds up to 45 mph and pea size hail.
SOURCE…Radar indicated.
IMPACT…Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation possible.
Locations impacted include…
Harrisburg, Chambersburg, Carlisle, Lower Allen, Colonial Park, Sunbury, Progress, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Shamokin, New Cumberland, Linglestown, Enola, Steelton, Mount Carmel, Selinsgrove, Shippensburg, Danville, Lemoyne and Northumberland.
MAX HAIL SIZE…0.25 IN MAX WIND GUST…40 MPH

The other day, while out shopping, I was able to save a wood turtle that was crossing the road. I picked her up and carried her across while lecturing her on traffic safety. I try to save turtles as often as I can. I have a soft spot for them, and they are not good at outrunning cars.

Speaking of radio, propagation has been rising. There are more and more dx openings and the shorter wave-length bands are opening up on a daily basis. I am seeing more and more spots on 17M and 12M. It might just be a great sunspot cycle!

enuff for now. Namaste!

And it’s a beautiful day…

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On Sunday I worked the W9IMS special event celebrating the Indianapolis Grand Prix. 2 more to go. Every year the W9IMS club runs a series of 3 special events : 1 for the Grand Prix, 1 for the Indy 500 and 1 for the Brickyard 400. They have nice QSL cards and if you work all 3 events you can get a great certificate. I have worked them for the past several years. Their info can be found on qrz.com

As you can tall, I like working special event stations. They can be an exercise in radio skills and a lot of fun. I have a collection of certificates that I have in loose-leaf binders. I have my wyfe laminate them and then I store them. I look through the binders now and then and revel in the memories.

Good outside activity weather is here. I am looking forward to doing some outside operating, either from a state park or doing some basic hilltopping. Some years back a group of us got together and camped out on a mountain top and used helium balloons to support antennas. That was a lot of fun.

Namaste, all

Wow, just wow

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Here are my thoughts as of right now. First off, if your state goes to the effort of installing roundabouts (traffic circles in some areas) then an effort should be made to educate people on how they work. They are supposed to make traffic flow smoothly and folks who pull up to the entrance and sit there waiting for the circle to be completely clear are defeating that purpose. Second, if you pull out in front of someone at least make an effort to get up to the speed limit instead of rolling along at a snails pace. Third, show some courtesy and consideration to truckers. Don’t pull in front of them and slow down, don’t cut them off. Now I do have more things on my mind. You (each and every individual) don’t know everything and your way of doing things is not the only way. If someone shares some information or or an idea with a group, don’t try to show your superiority by making negative comments and/or telling them how wrong they are. By doing this you are not showing anything but how big an asshole you are. 🙂

It was beautiful weather today. I had mown my lawn the other day, right before it snowed and I am glad that I did. It was getting a bit shaggy. Also it was nice to have a bit of slack time this afternoon prior to having to get ready for work. I got to sit with my kittehs and relax …. except for one incident. My largest goldfish somehow found a way to jump out of the aquarium. I picked him and placed him back in the tank. Now we are keeping an eye on him to make sure he is okay.

Enough for now. Namaste, y’all

Almost Tax Day

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Yup, it is almost Tax Day. Mine were done ages ago but I guess a lot of people wait until the last minute to file. No matter. I file early because I don’t like things hanging over my head.

Is this entry going to be about taxes? No. Tax Day falls in the middle of April. The weather is getting better and thoughts are turning to outdoor activities. Soon it will be time to plant the garden and, more importantly it will be time to expand outdoor operating. In fact, a club I belong to, Perry County Radio Amateurs, will be activating a state park. There is a programs called Parks On The Air where hams can go to a park and operate. Parks are assigned a number and people can get certificates for working them. I know this may not sound fun but for the hams out there, it is. It is an opportunity to test your equipment under less than ideal situations and to test out new portable antennae. It will also provide other hams with a chance to work Perry County PA. Some hams (called County Hunters) like to make contacts in counties all over the US. Though our county is not extremely rare, it is sought after.

Another outdoor activity coming up is Field Day. A lot of hams see Field Day as a contest but it originally was an exercise to test out portable and emergency operating. In an emergency, knowing what works and what doesn’t ahead of time lets you concentrate on the task at hand.

Finally, there are a lot of prosigns, abbreviations and jargon in use on the radio. If you listen in on a QSO (conversation on the radio), you will hear these cryptic phrases and 3 letter codes sprinkled into the exchange. Back in the days of telegraphy, operators came up with shortcuts and abbreviations. Some of these became official. In the early 1900’s, the British Postal Service (they were in charge of wired and wireless communications at the time) came up with a series of “Q” codes. These are 3 letter codes which all start with the letter Q. Some of them have changed over the years but some are still the same as when they were first originated. Below is a list of Q codes for your enjoyment.

CodeQuestionAnswer
QRAWhat is the name (or call sign) of your station?The name (or call sign) of my station is …
QRBHow far are you from my station?The distance between our stations is … nautical miles (or km).
QRGWill you tell me my exact frequency (or that of …)?Your exact frequency (or that of … ) is … kHz (or MHz).
QRHDoes my frequency vary?Your frequency varies.
QRIHow is the tone of my transmission?The tone of your transmission is (1: good, 2: variable 3: bad)
QRJAre you receiving me badly?I cannot receive you, your signal is too weak.
QRKWhat is the readability of my signals (or those of …)?The readability of your signals (or those of …) is … (1: bad .. 5: excellent).
QRLAre you busy?I am busy. (or I am busy with … ) Please do not interfere.
QRMDo you have interference?I have interference.
QRNAre you troubled by static noise?I am troubled by static noise.
QROShall I increase transmit power?Please increase transmit power.
QRPShall I decrease transmit power?Please decrease transmit power.
QRQShall I send faster?Please send faster (… words per minute).
QRSShall I send more slowly?Please send more slowly (… words per minute).
QRTShall I cease or suspend operation?I am suspending operation.
QRUHave you anything for me?I have nothing for you.
QRVAre you ready?I am ready.
QRWShall I inform ___ that you are calling?Please inform ___ that I am calling.
QRXShall I standby? / When will you call me again?Please standby. / I will call you again at … (hours) on … kHz (or MHz).
QRZWho is calling me?You are being called by … (on … kHz (or MHz)).
QSAWhat is the strength of my signals (or those of … )?The strength of your signals (or those of …) is … (1: very weak .. 5: very strong).
QSBAre my signals fading?Your signals are fading.
QSDIs my keying defective?Your keying is defective.
QSGShall I send ___ messages at a time?Send ___ messages at a time.
QSKCan you hear me between your signals (while transmitting), and if so can I break in on your transmission?I can hear you between my signals (while transmitting); break in on my transmission.
QSLCan you acknowledge receipt?I am acknowledging receipt.
QSMShall I repeat the last telegram (message) which I sent you, or some previous telegram (message)?Repeat the last telegram (message) which you sent me (or telegram(s) (message(s)) numbers(s) …).
QSNDid you hear me (or …) on … kHz (or MHz)?I did hear you (or …) on … kHz (or MHz).
QSOCan you communicate with … direct or by relay?I can communicate with … direct (or by relay through …).
QSPWill you relay a message to …?I will relay a message to … .
QSRDo you want me to repeat my call?Please repeat your call.
QSSWhat working frequency will you use?I will use … kHz (or MHz).
QST–Here is a broadcast message to all amateurs.
QSUShall I send or reply on this frequency (or on … kHz (or MHz))?Please send or reply on this frequency (or on … kHz (or MHz)).
QSVShall I send a series of “V” on this frequency (or on … kHz (or MHz))?Please send a series of “V” on this frequency (or on … kHz (or MHz)).
QSWWill you send on this frequency?I am going to send on this frequency.
QSXWill you listen to … on … kHz (or MHz)?I am listening to … on … kHz (or MHz).
QSYShall I change transmission frequency (to … kHz (or MHz))?Please change transmission frequency (to … kHz (or MHz)).
QSZShall I send each word or group more than once?Send each word or group twice (or … times).
QTAShall I cancel message number ___?Cancel message number ___.
QTCHow many telegrams (messages) have you to send?I have … telegrams (messages) for you (or for …).
QTHWhat is your position in latitude and longitude (or according to any other indication)?My position is … latitude, … longitude.
QTRWhat is the correct time?The correct time is … hours.
QST–General call preceeding a message address to all amateurs and A.R.R.L. Members. This is in effect “CQ ARRL”.
QRRR–Official A.R.R.L. “land SOS.” A distress call for emergency use only.

Not quite the Ides

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Well, it seems that we are living in interesting times. Folks are sitting on the edges of their seats, drinking in all that they are being told about current events. No matter. The important thing is that band conditions are getting better every day. We are on the upswing of the solar cycle. You can find openings day and night and can always find someone to talk to. I am currently on 17M looking for SKCC and FISTS contacts but will work anyone. There is a sorta zen thing about morse code. The rhythm is relaxing and soothes the spirit. Hearing a reply from a distant station is still thrilling, even with the passage of strange eons. I sit here enjoying my coffee as the remnants of the weather event moves away. It is warm and comfortable and I am thankful for that. My cats are crashed out on the sofa which faces the pellet stove. They are sucking up the heat. My hermit crabs are in the tank behind me and they are moving about, doing hermit crab things. I don’t have to work tonight so I can relax. I think I will leave the radio on for a while to see how many contacts I can make tonight. As I said, the rhythm is soothing. My antennas have lasted the winter in good shape and though Spring is near, don’t need a lot of maintenance. I do need a couple of tree branches cut but that is not critical. I see that I am being spotted on the reflectors and soon someone may be calling me. Again, life is good. TTFN

Unexpected Vote of Confidence

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Hi all. I was approached the other day by someone who admits to reading my blog and said that they like it and look forward to reading it. Feedback is always nice.

As usual, on my commute to work, I put out my call on 146.520 MHz. I got no response at first and changed over to the 146.460 repeater. No one answered me there and I went back to 146.520. After a few more miles of silence I called on 145.110 and got a reply. We had a good chat for a few miles before I get to my exit. We discussed the G4FON Morse Trainer software and that steered our conversation to classic literature. I even made the observation that I recently read The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald and I found all the characters in the book to be despicable. Now I am working through To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. At least the characters are likable.

If anyone actually readss this blog and wants to leave a comment, feel free.