Amateur Radio Organizations, Amateur Radio Relay League, ARES, News, Races, Skywarn

I will visit with my friend Gianluca Zanna on KTOX

a22de8_3aae620072974c3db31bf2d88bf5787bGianluca Zanna is one of the top artist in what I call Freedom music. He has a talk show on KTOX 1340 am in Kingman. You can listen to the show at his Love, Guns, and Freedom web site. I’ve been on before discussing Constitutional topics such as the militia, the Bill of Rights and freedom.

The role of the militia is not just fighting tyranny. In the period of the War for Independence they were called Committees of Safety. Their role was not just armed defense, but to fight fires and help the members of their community.

This is where Ham radio fits in. There are already agencies in place in the Ham community to respond to emergency situations. RACES is the federal government version and ARES was developed by the American Radio Relay League. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has the SKYWARN system to respond in the event of natural disaster. They have trained weather spotters to report unusual weather conditions. These are forms of militias and they do not have to pack heat.

With the introduction of low-cost amateur radio equipment, anyone can set up equipment to monitor radio transmission when all other means of communication have failed. As we discussed on the show, anyone can monitor these frequencies. There are many good videos on YouTube and other sources that explain how to set these radios up to scan police, fire and other emergency frequencies.

You have to have a license to transmit on Amateur radio or General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) frequencies. The only exception is if there is a possible loss of life or damage to property. In short, a real emergency. Only then can you use these radios to transmit on without a license.

Radios are useful in the event of any emergency from natural disaster to World War. We discussed some possible uses of these low-cost handie-talkies (HT) and other mobile units. We also discuss why you should get at least a Technician Class amateur radio license. It is not hard and you can meet a lot of good people on the air. I forgot to mention that this is one area that is not limited to age. In fact, young people under the age of eighteen are sought after as Ham radio operators. The younger you start, the more you can learn.

You can listen to this pre-recorded segment on KTOX 1340 AM on Sunday March 6 or listen on the Internet. You can listen to, and download, Zanna’s music at Zanna.us. He also has some good love songs and popular music.

Amateur Radio, EchoLink, Ham Sphere, License Examinations, News, Online, QSO Net

So you want to be an Amateur Radio operator

UPDATED: 3/3/2016, 10:16

Many people prevent themselves from becoming Amateur Radio, or HAM, operators for many reasons. One is, perhaps, the “mystery” that surrounds the hobby. Another is the requirement to do Morse Code. A third is probably that the equipment is so expensive.

It may surprise you to learn that as a former technician in the Navy, I was even confused about the aura that seems to surround the hobby. The electronics was not much of a problem to understand, but the different bands and where I would be allowed to operate was confusing even for me. That quickly dissipated when I finally decided to sit down and study for the license. There are three licenses the FCC grants for amateur radio; Technician Class, General Class and Amateur Extra. To obtain the first two licenses, you must pass an examination of by answering 26 of 35 questions correctly. For Amateur Extra you have to pass an exam of 50 questions with 74%. Do you really need the Amateur Extra though? I will explain presently.

The second reason is Morse Code. You no longer have to pass a test for Morse Code, or CW as it is called in Amateur Radio.

The last is probably the most likely excuse for not getting into Amateur Radio. A high frequency transmitter can run into the thousands of dollars. An antenna can cost as high as $600 if you do not want to build it yourself. If you decide to build yourself, you will have to have access to an antenna analyzer. You will have to get an SWR meter which can run about $250 depending on what you want. And you will have to learn to fight HOAs to put up antennas or towers and on-and-on.

There are, however, several ways you can enjoy Amateur Radio without spending a nickel (except, of course, for the fee to take the test and the fee for any classes you decide to take or books you want to read). There are online services that allow you to communicate with other Ham operators. Two of these I review require an amateur radio license. The others do not. I have not used all of the services, so you will have to consult their web sites for requirements. They all require a sign up.

I do not want to get too technical for this article, but some are based on a Ham project called Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) and some are Voice Over the Internet Protocol (VOIP). The difference is that IRLP actually connects to amateur radio repeaters and radios and therefore you need a license. Services, such as Skype, use VOIP which is strictly over the Internet and therefore require no license.
Continue reading So you want to be an Amateur Radio operator →

Amateur Radio Organizations, ARES, News, Personal, Races

The BTech UV2501 project: Part 3

800-EmergencyRadio60221-01
Figure 1: Contents in Alice pack.

For the last couple of months I have been testing the BTECH UV-2501 by Baofeng as a possible transportable emergency radio. The project is coming along and I have conducted some tests. I have used it as a mobile as it was intended. I use it as a base, but because of my particular location it does not perform well. This is primarily because I have yet to set up an antenna in a good location. I am working on that.
Continue reading The BTech UV2501 project: Part 3 →

News

HamConnect: New social media for amateur radio operators

hamconnet-1The last thing I need in my life is yet another social media. As I perused Facebook, however, I noticed an advertisement for something called HamConnect. This new BuddyBoss social media site is designed specifically for amateur radio, or Ham, operators. It interested me because I am a “rookie.”

Like Facebook and Tea Party Community, they give you only a glimpse of what they are about unless you sign in. It is a new site and still in development. It is a much different look from Facebook. I just signed up on February 16, so this article gives only a general impression.

The first thing that I noticed is that it can be difficult to create a cover photo. With Facebook, you create a cover photo 851 x 315 pixels and your created cover photo fits right in. In HamConnect, I attempted to use one of my Facebook cover photos and the beautiful frame that I created did not show. I made several attempt to resize the cover photo with varying degrees of success. It appears that about 850 x 250 worked. The frame I created around the cover did not appear correctly, however. It appears that HamConnect tries to stretch the cover photo to fit it in the frame.

The controls are not similar to Facebook and there are less of them. They are actually quite well-organized compared to Facebook. It does not take long to get used to them.

There are several groups formed already. One is for ARRL members and the other for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) created by ARRL. I am not sure who created the site. They do have a Facebook page. They started the Facebook page February 1, so you can see how new they actually are.

So far, I have not seen any news feed like you get on Facebook. I have not tried to include articles or photos into the feed for the world to see. I might start with this one.

Another problem is that you can invite friends to join. In the email, it gives a link to check out your profile. Clicking on the link, however, takes you to the main page to register. It should bring up your wall as the link indicates.

This site has a few problems, in my opinion, as any start-up does. There are not a lot of ads, as yet, but you can expect them. After they get more feedback, they will probably work on correcting them. Because it is limited to amateur radio operators, it is probably less likely that you will encounter trolls than on Facebook.

Education, Morse Code, Personal

Mind your Q’s and Y’s

EDUCATION — I have been working at learning Morse code as the next step on my road to being a successful Ham operator. The main problem is one of money. Yet while I am waiting for the proper equipment to CQ CW (call for any station using Morse code), I am learning the code.

It is true that there are computer programs that perform all manner of digital codes available—including CW. You need a computer to communciate using the other digital codes, but using one for CW is cheating. Unless, of course, it is an emergency situation requiring quicker communications. Like John Henry, however, there are probably some coders who might even beat the computer.

I am not an expert, mind you. I am just starting to learn. There are some interesting things that I noticed that I will share. Your personal CW learning experience might be much different.

I suspect that everyone has at least heard of Morse code. I am not going to get into frequencies and transmit restrictions, at this point, because I am still learning the technical points. You probably know that Morse code is a series of dots and dashes representing letters, numbers and punctuation. Coders usually use the words di for dots and dah for dashes. This is rhythmically representing the dots and dashes. For example the letter A is represented by a dot and a dash, (or .-). In code we would say di-dah.

What I have found helpful in my study is to correlate certain of the coded letters. For example .- represents A and -. represents the letter N. They are reversed and spell the word AN.

That is a simple one. Two other Morse code combinations that are similar are ..-. for F and .-.. for the letter L. Perhaps the word FLy might help to remember.

Q and Y is another combination—Q being – -.- and -.- – being Y. That one still confuses me, a bit, but I am getting better. The only thing I can think of to remember this is mind your Q’s and Y’s. That is taken from the old saying mind your P’s and Q’s.

When I refer to Morse code, or CW, I am referring to what is called International Morse Code in common use in amateur radio today. I understand that it is different than the code that Samuel Morse actually developed. Samuel Morse, when developing the code, was clever in designing it. He knew, for example, that the most common letter in the English language was the letter E. Therefore he used a simple di (.) to represent it. T, also being common, became dah (-). Studying the manner in which the code developed might also help you learn it. There are many videos and articles on the subject on something called the Internet.

There are a couple of good apps for your so-called “smart phone” or tablet that might help. I will be doing articles on two of these in the near future. This site also offers some videos that might help you sort things out and there are several sites online that offer Morse code training. I will try to link to resources that might be useful to you in your endeavor to learn Morse code. I am working on getting some QRP (Ham lingo for low power equipment) to transmit Morse code. As I learn, I will pass it on.

Amateur Radio, News

New amateur radio operators seek to re-establish Williams Group

WILLIAMS — A few ham radio licensees in Williams are trying to re-establish the Bill Williams Mountain Radio Group. They are looking for former members who would like to re-establish the group as well as anyone who would like to obtain and amateur radio license.

Glen Davis, who recently obtained an amateur radio license, is one of those making the attempt. He tried to contact some of the former members through the web site, but received no response.

“A strong amateur radio group is important,” Davis explained. “It gives the opportunity for new amateur radio operators to learn from experienced operators. Most people do not know that a person of any age that can past the test can get a license.”

Read more at Northern Arizona Gazette.

Amateur Radio, News, Personal

The BTech UV2501 project: Part 2

Summary of Part 1: I purchase a BTECH UV-2501 and Nagoya UT-72 antenna in hopes of creating an emergency field radio. I had to wait for a power source for a full test. I chose the UV-2501 for the price and claimed power output. I do not have the proper test equipment to test the claims, but other reviews say the claims are pretty accurate. I should note that I should have posted Part 1 of this article some time ago.

One of the goals of Amateur radio is to provide communications in an emergency. As a new amateur operator, I would like to be able to assist in that goal. Before I sign up for ARES or SKYWARN, however, I would like to have something substantial to offer. Thus my emergency radio project was conceived.

My project consists of the UV-2501 and Nagoya UT-72 antenna combination. I will first explore the antenna problem.

The UT-72 is designed to work with the UV-2501 and other Baofeng radios. They do seem to help extend the range of the Baofeng hand held radios, such as the UV-5r and UV-82. I was, however, disappointed in the performance with the UV-2501. It works, but from the signal reports I received, the antenna that a friend provided to me when I first started in Ham radio works better. I have been researching home brew antennas that I can mount on my roof for extended range.

The radio, itself, is quite nice. It is designed to operate as a mobile and does quite well. It is designed to plug into the cigarette lighter. It is quite compact and can fit anywhere in a vehicle. But it does have some problems.

1. Programming through the manual is easy. I am used to using the CHIRP programming software to program my handhelds, however. The problem with the UV-2501 is that you must manually set the transmit (Tx) and received (Rx) frequencies individually to connect with repeaters. Therefore a little mathematical skill is required. With the CHIRP software, you simply enter the offset and + or -. With the UV-2501 you must know the repeater offset and add or subtract, respectively, the offset from the repeater receive frequency to enter the repeater transmit frequency. In other words, if the repeater base frequency is 147.140 with a negative offset of 6 KHz—which is about standard—your Tx frequency would be 146.540. With a positive offset the Tx frequency would be 147.740. I know that sounds confusing, but it is not calculus and even I figured it out quite readily.

2. CHIRP does not work with the UV-2501. So if you choose to try to program it via computer, you have to use the software provided by Baofeng. The software is not as easy as CHIRP and many people abandon the software provided by Baofeng in favor of CHIRP.

While waiting for a power source, I plugged the UV-2501 into the car. I was able to figure out the programming easily enough and the unit works well. One thing you can do with this unit that you cannot do with Baofeng hand helds is enter a name for the channel.

I initially planned to experiment with programming and operating the UV-2501 using the 13.8-volt Radio Shack power supply. A consultation with Baofeng Tech indicated that would be sufficient. The problem is that is not a portable power supply and this project is for a portable emergency radio.

Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
While shopping in Walmart, I found what I thought would be the answer. I spotted a Stanley FATMAX JUMPiT jump starter for about $60. A little less than the Radio Shack power supply. It had a plug-in for a cigarette lighter adapter. When I got it home, I found an isolation transformer and a cord to connect the cigarette lighter to the FATMAX to recharge the unit. While reading through the manual, I found that you could plug in an appliance, but it had a maximum limit of 5 amps.

I decided to try it. It was not an uneducated decision. After all, the FATMAX is designed to do just this. I plugged it in and it worked just fine. I ran the unit for about two hours on a test run and both the power source and the radio held up fine.

Now I have a radio and power source that I suspect can last three- to four-hours in an emergency. It has enough range to get most repeaters in my area. I suspect that using the higher power UV5001 would drain the power source quicker, as well. If I have a car available, I can recharge the power source as I drive. I am looking into other power solutions, such as solar.

My next step will be to test the unit in the field. The idea is to have the radio and power supply in a backpack. The backpack will also contain an extra hand held, or two. It will also contain food for three days and some first aid equipment. It will also contain a tent and sleeping bag. This would allow me to set up for emergencies, such as a lost person in the woods, or for special events around the area.

The next step is to set up the pack and put it to work. I’ll have to use the antennas I have until I can build a new one.

Amateur Radio, News, Personal

The BTech UV2501 project: Part 1

800-UV-2501-16-01-08-3
SOURCE: BAOFENG TECH

I have ordered from Baofeng Tech on several occasions. Their technical support group is quick to respond via email and they have always helped. They are answering my tech questions on the UV2501 as I write this article.

I purchased this radio for a specific purpose. My hope is to make an emergency field radio. I want to use it as a base unit, as well. I am experimenting with portable power supplies to test the unit. I am trying to put the money together to get a unit with HF as well as UHF/VHF.

I purchased the Nagoya UT-72 mobile antenna with the UV2501. I hope to design a better antenna in the future. The antenna is important, but the UT-72 should serve my test purposes. I used it with good success with my Baofeng hand helds.

I also had to order a new PC04 programming cable because the programming for the Baofeng handhelds have a different connection. I highly recommend getting the appropriate programming cable for whatever Baofeng you purchase because it makes things easier. You should be aware, however, that the CHIRP program does not currently support the BTech UV2501 or UV5001. You will have to download the program from the Baofeng web site.

John Miklor has reviewed both the UV2051 and UV5001. He gives both good reviews.

There are only a few Amazon reviews from users. One stated, “Microphone feels really cheap (in the bad way).” Otherwise the user gives it a good review. One stated that he had problems with the CTCSS function.

As for the microphone and the unit, it feels pretty solid. At this point in the article, I have not plugged it in and tested it. The microphone feels good to me, but bear in mind that I am a rookie Ham operator so I haven’t used a lot of mobile or base equipment.
800-UV-2501-16-01-08-5
One thing I did find out is that fuse holder on the power plug says that a 5A/250W fuse is called for. Baofeng provides a 7A/250W fuse. I contacted technical support and they said that it was an engineering change because the UV5001 can sometimes provide up to 60-Watts of power; 10-watts over the advertised rating. Of course my goal is to create an emergency pack that works. Not to drive the unit to its limits. I might do that later when I have spares to play with.

In the next article I will continue with the other equipment required for the project.

Amateur Radio Organizations, Amateur Radio Relay League, News

Congratulations Rick Roderick K5UR

300-Rick Roderick K5URRick Roderick of Little Rock, Arkansas has been elected at the 16th President of the Amateur Radio Relay League at the annual meeting January 15-16. He was the first Vice President of the ARRL organization.

The Board also chose other officers, electing Dakota Division Director Greg Widin, K0GW, of Stillwater, Minnesota, as First Vice President, succeeding Roderick, and Rocky Mountain Division Director Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, as Vice President, succeeding Jim Fenstermaker, K9JF. Roderick, Widin, and Mileshosky all are ARRL Life Members. Fenstermaker was later named by the Board as an ARRL Honorary Vice President.

Read more

Award, News, Personal

Now a Volunteer Examiner

800-VE-Certificate-1I finished the Volunteer Examiner course and sent it off during the holiday season. It seemed the next logical step after receiving my Amateur Extra license.

I am now certified to assist in conducting license examinations. Like many things in Ham radio, though, you actually have to do before you actually understand all of those questions you answered.

When a Ham operator receives a General license, they can become certified to administer license examinations. Remember, however, they can only administer the examination for the Technician license. As an amateur extra, I am certified to administer examinations for all class of licenses. That is, I and two other amateur extra licensees with the same certification.

When you receive your General or Amateur Extra license, you too can become certified as a Volunteer Examiner. But why?

Administering examinations consists of collecting the $15, filling out paper, grading examinations and telling the hopefuls whether they pass or fail. Seems like a lot of work for no pay.

If your objective in amateur radio is to get to talk on your Baofeng, this program probably is not for you. It will take up your free time on weekends. It is just one way that you can give back to your community and ham radio. There are certainly any number of other ways you can help. Getting involved in SKYWARN, Races or other emergency communications efforts, for example. They all require training, as well.

I actually got started by trying to find out what all of those questions about the Volunteer Examination Coordinator was about. During the course of that investigation, I found the course and simply completed the open-book review. It was pretty easy compared with months of studying for my license.

Amateur Radio Operator