Public Service

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.

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.

Bitchin !!

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Here is something to bitch about: I get updates from shipping companies via e-mail. Using today as an example, I was expecting delivery today as I had received an e-mail informing me that it had been loaded up in a van for delivery as of 03:47 this morning and the expected delivery time was prior to 20:00 this evening. At 15:30 I received an email informing me that it was checked back into the depot at 15:00 and will be delivered tomorrow by 20:00. Did they load my package into a van and take it for a 11 hour drive???? Did they treat it nice? Did the driver at least buy my package lunch or did they let it sit in the pile in the back with no acknowledgment? When I order something I would like it delivered when you say you will deliver it. This driving around for days with my package shows a deep and profound lack of respect.

Ok done bitchin now.

Queens and Princesses

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Here is a thought I had today. Most of the fairy tales we know and love involve princesses and queens. A certain company that I will not name makes big money off of the movies and merchandise associated with these stories. Think about this: the princesses are all kind, and good natured and faultlessly good. The queens are warped and mean and totally evil. Wait a second …. don’t princesses become queens? Do these wonderful princesses evolve into the epitome of evil when they ascend the throne? The plots of these stories revolve around the evil queen trying to destroy the good princess. What if the queen had received an instinctual or intuitional premonition that the princess will become evil when she becomes a queen and the “evil” queen is trying to save the world from a princess that turns evil? Wouldn’t that make the queen “good” for trying to eliminate “evil”? Food for thought, people.

COVID and Chemtrails

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It is widely believed that the Governments of this world are spraying their populations with chemicals and germs from high flying planes. If you do a search on the web you will find a plethora of pages about this subject. Some of them offer proof of this and some debunk it. It is a mixed bag. Here is an example of a webpage: https://stillnessinthestorm.com/2020/02/the-united-nations-exposes-chemtrails-100-proof-we-are-being-poisoned/

I have a simple proposal. Since the infrastructure is in place to perform this, why don’t we all contact our congress critters and insist that they use this to spray us all with the COVID vaccine. This would eliminate the need for egregious mandates and “vaccine passports”. If they are already spraying us with malicious chemicals, why not, by popular demand” spray something beneficial? You can find contact information for your politicians online. Let’s get this rolling!!

A book Review

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The book I am reviewing today is “Today I Am A Ham” by Ethelyn M Parkinson. My wife found it at a yardsale. For a youth-oriented book, I found it interesting and enjoyable. 14 year old Eric aspires to be a ham while maneuvering through typical family and school and friend issues. He isn’t the athlete that his coach father wants him to be; he also is’t the perfect brother that his drama queen sister wants him to be. He gets the full support of his other sister and, with the help of friends and local adults, he is able to get his ham ticket. As for sports, I will leave that to you. On the whole, it was a good read. Below is a link to some reader reviews:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1697633.Today_I_Am_a_Ham

Weather and Radio

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There is a long association between weather and radio in general and Amateur Radio in particular. When broadcast radio started to become in general use, people began to rely on it for local weather reports. Amateur Radio was also found to be useful for spreading weather reports, not only locally but over long distances. One topic of conversation over the radio has always been the weather. Many QSOs include the local weather. It does go deeper than just chatting, however. Hams are concerned about the weather. If thunderstorms come along, it is bad to have your equipment hooked up in case of a lightening strike. Hail and high winds can take down antennas. Trees can come down during storms and flooding can cause all kinds of havoc.

Amateur Radio operators (hams) have been and still are relied upon to provide back-up communications in emergencies and a lot of emergencies are weather related. Even if a ham cannot get to an area and assist with communications they can still be of value by reporting local conditions. A lot of hams have weather stations in their yard and can report things such as temperatures, pressure changes and precipitation totals to the NWS. There are phone apps that allow you to report (mPing is one example and is free) local conditions. What do you do if your cell service is out? Well there are a lot of clubs out there that hold nets when there is severe weather. You can log into a net on a repeater and report. They usually have a back-up plan in the event that repeaters are down. There are also weather nets on the HF bands where you can report conditions. A lot of options exist.

At the extreme end, there are hams who go out spotting bad storms such as tornados. anyway, here is a list of some resources to use if you want to get into weather reporting or learn more about the weather:

http://www.weather.gov is the National Weather Service website

https://www.weather.gov/SKYWARN This is the official NWS Skywarn page

https://www.weather.gov/skywarn/wfo_links This is a link to find local spotter classes in your area

https://www.meted.ucar.edu/education_training/course/23 This is a link to online spotter training

https://www.skywarn.org/local-groups/ And finally a link to locate groups in your area.

I hope this has been useful information to someone out there. 🙂

Cross my heart: a short bit about cross band operations

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So into it again. I would like to talk a bit about cross band operations. Basically, this is a feature in a lot of mobile rigs which allows you to extend the range of your hand held unit. You set up a mobile or fixed station to take an incoming signal on one frequency and re transmit the signal on another frequency. Here is an example: you are performing communications for a public event and you cannot reach a repeater with your HT. Your radio in your car, on the other hand, can easily communicate with the repeater of your choice. If the rig is capable, you can set it up for cross band. You would transmit on a simplex frequency on your HT and the mobile rig would take that signal and re transmit it on the input frequency of the repeater. When the repeater transmits, your mobile rig would re transmit that signal onto the simplex frequency that your HT is set on. This allows you to be away from your car if needed and still be in communication with the people you need to talk to (usually a command center or net control station). One thing they caution you about is not to cross band two repeaters as this would cause a loop which could lock up all radios involved. Not cool and potentially harmful to to all radios involved. You should also be aware that your radio doing the cross band is operating at 100% duty cycle and could over heat if not given a rest now and then.