Assorted Grounding Hints, Kinks and Technical Correspondence

What is an RF Ground?

RF ground is a vague term: People claim they know what it is when they see it, but can't define it. Many radio amateurs are easily misled by untruths about RF grounds. What follows is by no means the last word on RF grounding, but should help fill a void in the radio amateur's literature.

In my opinion, an RF ground is something that presents a low impedance at all frequencies of interest on the desired ground surface. All frequencies of interest usually means just the transmission frequency and all spurii. Spurii usually include harmonics, but may include mixing products. The ground surface is the tricky part. What do you want to be at ground potential? Surely you don't expect your microphone to be at ground potential on all frequencies, do you? Think about it: A coiled microphone cord is a bigger radiator than many "rubber duck" antennas! With proper matching, you could probably make a better antenna out of the mic cord shield! In this case, low impedance means "small reactance and resistance." Some radio amateurs just look at the resistive part of the impedance and forget about the reactance, which often is huge!

The size and shape of conductors are very important in evaluating a ground surface. Take, for example, a tall, thin aluminum structure that is grounded at one end. No matter how well you ground that one end, the structure still radiates and receives RF energy--that's why it's called an antenna. The shape that offers the lowest impedance is a sphere. (The Earth is a pretty good approximation of a sphere.) Size is also important--you wouldn't expect a metal-covered tennis ball to present a low impedance on 160 meters.

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Lighting Protection Articles:

Lightning Protection for the Amateur Radio Station -- Part 1 (QST PDF)

Lightning Protection for the Amateur Radio Station -- Part 2 (QST PDF)

Lightning Protection for the Amateur Radio Station -- Part 3 (QST PDF)

Choices and consequences of station lightning protection (article) if you choose to not properly ground your station.

San Diego ARES Amateurs Stand Down after Wildfires

With the wildfires in Southern California well on their way to be being contained, San Diego area ARES Amateur Radio operators have ceased assisting their served agencies; many hams had been called to action early last week. When the fires began early Sunday morning, October 21, ARRL San Diego Section Emergency Coordinator Jim Cammarano, KG6R, conferred with California Fire VIP Red Flag Coordinator Rich Beisgl N6NJK; Beisgl told Cammarano that local ARES groups were not needed at that time. "A few hours later, I called again and our status remained the same. They assured me that they would call me immediately if they required [assistance from] San Diego ARES. With the Santa Ana winds blowing, the fires had rapidly advanced far beyond the point where volunteer radio operators would be safe in performing such a role," Cammarano said.

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This the very latest NEWS:

As of October 25th... agreements have been reached which will allow the 146.730 (-) repeater to return to near it's original home! The '730 machine had always been referred to as the "English Mountain" repeater... because of it's traditional location on that mountain top... and efforts had been underway for many many years to get this machine re-located back to it's home on top of English Mountain. Now it appears those efforts have been successful! After some final fine-tuning, the machine will soon be making it's way back to the mountain top... so look for 146.730 to be on the air from it's new High Profile Location very very soon!

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Letters from an HF Newbie

Steve Handler, N9ABC
uscapmajor-n9abc@yahoo.com


Some of us know code and some of us are “no code.” Some of the latter, including the author, now hold General and Amateur Extra class licenses.



A view of the balun and west leg of N9ABC’s indoor dipole antenna.







My modest station: Yaesu FT-897 transceiver, LDG Z-11Pro tuner, headset and clock.

Two QSLs from my DX activity: OX60AD, Greenland, and 5D5A, Morocco. I’m a proud member of the group of people who, since February 24, have become radio amateurs with HF privileges without having to pass a Morse code exam. My adventures in ham radio to date may be both interesting and instructive.

First, the nitty-gritty. My shack qualifies for the worst-case scenario. I have a great rig and tuner -- a Yaesu FT-897 and a LDG Z-11Pro. My antenna, however, is an indoor 33 foot dipole with a balun in the feed line. Because of its substandard location, I somewhat affectionatelycall my antenna the “Krappo One.”

An indoor dipole? I can hear you snickering. CC&Rs (deed covenant, conditions and restrictions), right? No, much worse. It’s a matter of my wife’s restrictions on what she will tolerate outside. In this case, that means nothing unsightly that the neighbors can see.

With 100 W and my indoor dipole, you might wonder what I’ve been able to achieve. Well, after my first eight months on the air, I’ve worked 97 DXCC entities (formerly called “countries”), and have QSLs from 86 of them. “Not bad,” say I.

Using my tuner and my 20 meter dipole, I can also get on 40, 17 and 15 meters. Most of my contacts have been on 20 meter SSB, although I have started to play with PSK31.

So, what DX does a newbie from the Midwest encounter on HF? If I rounded up the usual suspects they would include contacts with Europe, the Caribbean and South America. Within Europe, Italy, Spain and Russia seem to be the most plentiful. Their friendly hams appear willing to work with newcomers to the HF bands. Being a glutton for punishment, one day I dropped my power to 10 W and still was able to work Slovenia.

Many Europeans seem to enjoy short QSOs (often just an exchange of signal reports) and then move on. Not so for many of those from the United Kingdom. They love to chat. Bless them for putting up with my low power, marginal antenna and puny signal. Contacts with Africa have been sparse. I’ve worked a handful of Moroccans, Algeria, Liberia, Madeira Island and little else. The Caribbean and South America hold a special place in my heart. Operators in those parts of the world generally seem friendly and interested in working stateside stations.

The lesson here is that even with minimal gear and a compromise antenna, it’s still possible to have a lot of fun on HF, including working DX.

What I Have Learned So Far

Lesson 1: Courtesy and patience are the golden rules.

Lesson 2: Find an Elmer, someone who can be your mentor. I’ve gone “two better” and have three of them. All have provided invaluable tips and hints. All are long-time hams who have been there and done that. They are patient and more than willing to help me out with problems and questions.

Lesson 3: Not all days are created equal. Propagation at this point in the solar cycle seems to vary not only from day to day but according to the time of day. Find something else to do when propagation is poor, unless you enjoy warming the ionosphere. This brings me to “Steven’s Rule of Woe”: The amount and quality of DX available on the air tends to be inversely proportional to the amount of time you have available to hunt DX.

Lesson 4: Timing is everything. I’m learning to operate like an ant dancing with elephants. Although outgunned in power (and antenna system) by almost everyone else on the air, I’ve already learned about using timing to break a pileup. One recent evening, I worked Algeria by listening to the pileup and noting a pattern to the QSOs. I determined that after the DX station called CQ, about six seconds into the caterwauling of call signs there almost always was a slight one-second lull before he either answered a station or the bedlam resumed. I timed my call to hit that lull, and, sure enough, I got through and he came back to me.

This method has worked over and over for me. Although each pileup seems to have a different pattern, there is almost always a pattern to be found. If you’re running low power, try timing your calls for the lulls in pileups.

Lesson 5: Every dog has its day, and every region has its time of day. Different regions tend to have better signals at different times of the day. For me, the Caribbean is good in the early morning and late afternoon. South America also is good in the late afternoon. Europe tends to be good from mid morning to mid to late afternoon, while Africa has been good in the early evening hours. Your situation will differ depending on your location, but listen a lot and get a feel for when to expect to hear one region of the world or another.

Lesson 6: Stick to it! Pick a band, and learn it. I have chosen 20 meters and am learning its various ins and outs -- especially propagation and knowing what parts of the band yield the best chance of working DX. For example, I have found that above 14.300 MHz are a number of nets, and my chances of catching any DX there are not as great as in the lower end of the band. Like all rules, however, there are exceptions. Recently on 14.330 MHz I worked a maritime mobile out of Germany and had a nice 10 minute chat.

Lesson 7: Become a contestant. Early on I complained to one of my Elmers that contests clogged the bands on weekends and made it hard for me to DX. He wisely pointed out, however, that contests are golden opportunities. Join the contest, and go after the participating stations. I’ve snagged a number of DX entities this way.

Lesson 8: Listen before you speak! Very early on, I joined pileups even before I had solid copy of the target station’s call sign. I figured it if was good enough for others, it was good enough for me. This bad habit ended abruptly. One day using my timing technique, I broke a pileup to work what I thought was a great catch. His exotic DX location turned out to be a neighboring city, and I had to face his question as to whom I thought I was calling. Oops! Never mind!

Lesson 9: I have heard the enemy, and it is I. Using an indoor antenna I have sometimes caused RFI within the house. The Palomar Engineers RFI Kit of toroids and beads judiciously placed on telephone cords, computer mouse, keyboard wires and other key locations have helped me eliminate RFI within the house.

Lesson 10: CQ, CQ, CQ Whirlpool? Household appliances create interference, and having an antenna indoors only makes things worse. My front-loading Whirpool washer is one of the worst offenders. The faster its high-speed motor whirls, the worse the interference. Let’s see, clean clothes or DX? Guess which one wins out? Other offenders include two of our televisions and the fluorescent lights. All of the interference is radiated, not arriving via the power line. Detective Steve found that if you detach the antenna, the interference goes way. The moral of the story is to DX when no one else is home (or at least doing the laundry), or learn to live with some interference.

Final Observations

New licensees want and need to learn. Most want ham radio to be a great hobby not only for themselves but for their fellow hams. Veteran radio amateurs have a golden opportunity to help educate and teach new hams and shape their operating habits for life.

Unless you enjoy talking to yourself, ham radio will always be a matter of teamwork. Get on the air and join the team, and we’re all winners.

73 and good DX!

Steve Handler, N9ABC, lives in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. His interest in ham radio began as a shortwave listener (SWL) using a Knight Span Master. He became a Technician class Amateur Radio licensee in 1991, and he’s been involved in ARES and RACES. Earlier this year he upgraded, first to General and then to Amateur Extra, and he obtained the vanity call sign N9ABC. He’s also written for Satellite Times and Mobile Computing Magazine.

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
255 PM EDT SUN OCT 28 2007

...COLDEST TEMPERATURES OF THE SEASON EXPECTED BY SUNRISE MONDAY MORNING...

.A LARGE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BECOME CENTERED OVER THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION TONIGHT. AS A RESULT...CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS WILL COMBINE TO ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO FALL INTO THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S IN MANY AREAS BY SUNRISE ON MONDAY MORNING. FREEZING TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS A LARGE PART OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...NORTHEAST TENNESSEE...THE SMOKY MOUNTAINS...AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA.

COUNTY SPECIFIC MESSAGE:

/O.CON.KMRX.FZ.W.0007.071029T0800Z-071029T1400Z/
CHEROKEE-CLAY-HANCOCK-HAWKINS-SULLIVAN-JOHNSON-
COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS-NORTHWEST GREENE-SOUTHEAST GREENE-
WASHINGTON TN-UNICOI-NORTHWEST CARTER-SOUTHEAST CARTER-
BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS-SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS-SOUTHEAST MONROE-
EAST POLK-LEE-WISE-SCOTT-RUSSELL-WASHINGTON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MURPHY...HAYESVILLE...SNEEDVILLE...
ROGERSVILLE...KINGSPORT...BRISTOL...MOUNTAIN CITY...COSBY...
GREENEVILLE...CEDAR CREEK...JOHNSON CITY...ERWIN...ELIZABETHTON...
ROAN MOUNTAIN...CADES COVE...GATLINBURG...COKER CREEK...
DUCKTOWN...JONESVILLE...WISE...GATE CITY...LEBANON...ABINGDON
255 PM EDT SUN OCT 28 2007

...FREEZE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 10 AM EDT
MONDAY...

A FREEZE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 10 AM EDT MONDAY.

FREEZING TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S ARE EXPECTED
BY SUNRISE MONDAY MORNING ACROSS A LARGE PART OF SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA...NORTHEAST TENNESSEE...THE SMOKY MOUNTAINS AND EXTREME
SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA.

A FREEZE WARNING MEANS SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED OR
OCCURRING. THESE CONDITIONS MAY KILL CROPS AND OTHER SENSITIVE
VEGETATION THAT ARE LEFT UNPROTECTED.

San Diego Area Hams Activated as Wildfires Ravage Southern California:

As fires raged through parts of the San Diego area and other areas in Southern California, ham radio operators did their part to ensure the safety of residents either affected or threatened by the fires. ARES groups in San Diego were activated on Monday, October 22 and continued to assist their served agencies until early Wednesday morning. Sixty hams were called to service by the County of San Diego's Emergency Medical Service.

According to ARRL San Diego Section Emergency Coordinator James J. Cammarano II, KG6R, hams assisted at the San Diego Medical Operations Center, six trauma centers and 16 community hospitals. Hams served as a resource, Cammarano said, "to be used in case primary circuits to hospital communications were lost due to either overload or power interruptions." In addition to these 60 amateurs, another dozen or so hams were activated by the Red Cross.

ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD, learned that San Diego ARES volunteers were activated and now they are in standby mode. "They are ready to go at a moment's notice, but there are currently no plans for re-activation," he said. As in any emergency situation, information can quickly change and the ARRL will continue to monitor the situation and inform members if the situation changes.

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Special Weather Statement

Special Weather Statement

ANDERSON-BLEDSOE-BRADLEY-CAMPBELL- CLAIBORNE-GRAINGER-HAMBLEN- HAMILTON- JEFFERSON-KNOX-LOUDON-MARION-MCMINN- MEIGS-MORGAN- NORTH SEVIER-NORTHWEST COCKE-NORTHWEST MONROE-NW BLOUNT-RHEA- ROANE- SCOTT TN-SEQUATCHIE-UNION-WEST POLK- 245 PM EDT (145 PM CDT) SAT OCT 27 2007

...COLDEST AIR OF THE SEASON EXPECTED SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY NIGHT...

A LARGE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION ON SUNDAY...AND BECOME CENTERED OVER THE AREA BY SUNDAY NIGHT. WITH LIGHT WINDS AND CLEAR SKIES EXPECTED ON SUNDAY NIGHT...TEMPERATURES WILL FALL INTO THE 30S ACROSS MOST OF EAST TENNESSEE BY SUNRISE ON MONDAY MORNING...AND AGAIN ON TUESDAY MORNING. THESE COLD TEMPERATURES WILL ALLOW SCATTERED FROST TO FORM TOWARDS SUNRISE ON MONDAY MORNING...AND AGAIN ON TUESDAY MORNING. IN ADDITION...A FEW ISOLATED LOW LYING AREAS MAY BRIEFLY EXPERIENCE FREEZING TEMPERATURES AROUND SUNRISE ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY MORNINGS.

Chattanooga Hamfest

October 27, 2007

Chattanooga Convention Center

Place: Hamfest Chattanooga has moved to the Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center for 2007. This location will give Visitors a chance to enjoy HamFest07 as well as local area attractions.


Talk In: 146.79 / 224.180

For dealers:
10' x 10' space, $45 each.
Space includes one or two 8' tables (your choice)
Electricity
Free admission for dealer and workers
Dealer Registration

For inside flea market:
8' table, $15 ea.
Electricity $10
Admission $7 each person

Flea Market Registration

Contact : Tom Cash K4ZQX

Email : k4zqx ()AT() arrl.net

Mail : Hamfest Chattanooga

P.O. Box 23121

Chattanooga TN 37422

Repost from Chattanooga Amateur Radio Club

Digital Master 780 by Ham Radio Deluxe

Digital Master 780 by Ham Radio Deluxe

Started in September 2006, Digital Master 780 (DM780) is a multi-mode program supporting the most common digital modes such as PSK, RTTY, and MFSK. It replaces PSK31 Deluxe which is now a legacy program.

DM780 is designed to work with Windows 2000, XP and VISTA. It will not work on Windows 98 systems, Linux or Macintosh.

Suggested minimum requirements are 1 GHz CPU and 512 MB of RAM. A wide screen helps - the wider the better!

Advantages of DM780 -

- Fully customisable.
- Integrated with Ham Radio Deluxe for radio control.
- Logbook with eQSL, ADIF, Cabrillo, Callsign Lookup and Google Earth interfaces.
- Modern user interface.
- Free!

Modes:

Current -

The modes currently supported are: PSK, QPSK, CQ, MCW, DominoEx, MFSK, MT63, Olivia, RTTY and Throb.

Tornado Watch - Knox (Tennessee) - Rmail

Tornado Watch - Knox (Tennessee)

TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 728
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
220 AM EDT FRI OCT 19 2007

TORNADO WATCH 728 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 AM EDT FOR THE
FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

TNC001-007-009-011-013-025-057-063-065-067-073-089-093-105-107-
115-121-123-129-139-143-145-151-153-155-173-191200-
/O.NEW.KWNS.TO.A.0728.071019T0620Z-071019T1200Z/

TN
. TENNESSEE COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

ANDERSON BLEDSOE BLOUNT
BRADLEY CAMPBELL CLAIBORNE
GRAINGER HAMBLEN HAMILTON
HANCOCK HAWKINS JEFFERSON
KNOX LOUDON MARION
MCMINN MEIGS MONROE
MORGAN POLK RHEA
ROANE SCOTT SEQUATCHIE
SEVIER UNION

 

Central Kentucky Amateur Radio Society

2007 Annual Fall Hamfest in Richmond Kentucky!!!

When:

November 10, 2007 8:00 am – 4:00 pm

Cost
$5.00 at gate -- Outside Tailgate free with paid admission

$10.00 Tables inside with electric as available

$5.00 Tables inside without electric as available

Prizes!!

Grand Prize
ICOM 2200H 2 meter mobile

2nd Prize
MFJ-971 Antenna Tuner

3rd Prize
$50 gift certificate to vendor of your choice at the site.

Door prizes will also be awarded.

More information can be found here

Strong Thunderstorms Possible

HAZ WX OUTLK- THS HZRDOUS WX OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF SW NC E TN & SW VA. .DAY 1 TODAY & TNITE NO HZRDOUS WX IS EXPCTD @ THS TIME. .

DAYS 2 THRU 7 FRI THRU WED A STRNG COLD FRONT IS FCAST TO MOV INTO THE S APPALACHIAN REGN ERLY FRI CREATNG SCATRD SHWRS & TSTRMS. @ THS TIME IT APPEARS THAT SOME OF THSE TSTRMS MAY BCOME SVR. .SPOTR INFORMATN STMNT SPOTR ACTVTN MAY BE NEEDED ERLY FRI. --Affects:Anderson,Blount,Campbell,...

MRXHWO Link

California Ham Helps District Prepare for Emergency

By Sharon Cotal
scotal@the-signal.com

Signal Staff Writer

Tuesday October 16, 2007



When Art Edwards taught at Hart High School in California, then later at Canyon, he would use his amateur (ham) radio as a tool to teach Spanish, and during the course of his 39 years as a teacher he made contact with every Spanish-speaking country in the world.

Now that he's retired, the Canyon Country resident is working with the William S. Hart Union High School District to develop a communications system that will work in the event of an emergency or natural disaster.

"The school district didn't really have any way to communicate in the event of a disaster," Edwards said. "So the idea is to have a cadre of ham radio operators, with two at each school in the district and also at the administrative offices."

Bob Weber, coordinator of risk management for the district, sent out e-mail messages to district personnel asking if anyone would be interested in learning to operate a ham radio and becoming licensed. He expected a couple of people to respond.

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NOAA Reports U.S. Likely to Have Above-Average Winter Temperatures

La Niña Arrives, Southern Drought Concerns Intensify

October 9, 2007

NOAA forecasters are calling for above-average temperatures over most of the country and a continuation of drier-than-average conditions across already drought-stricken parts of the Southwest and Southeast in its winter outlook for the United States, announced at the 2007-2008 Winter Fuels Outlook Conference in Washington, D.C., today.

“La Niña is here, with a weak-to-moderate event likely to persist through the winter,” said Michael Halpert, head of forecast operations and acting deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “The big concern this winter may be the persistence of drought across large parts of the already parched South. And while December through February is likely to be another milder-than-average winter for much of the country, people should still expect some bouts of winter weather.”

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About USGS

Our Mission and Vision

Mission:
The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.

Vision:
USGS has become a world leader in the natural sciences thanks to our scientific excellence and responsiveness to society's needs.

Who We Are:
The USGS employs the best and the brightest experts who bring a range of earth and life science disciplines to bear on problems. By integrating our diverse scientific expertise, the USGS is able to understand complex natural science phenomena and provide scientific products that lead to solutions. Every day the 10,000 scientists, technicians, and support staff of the USGS are working for you in more than 400 locations throughout the United States.

How We Are Organized:
The USGS is organized with a Headquarters and Eastern Region facility in Reston, Virginia. Central Region and Western Region offices are located in Denver, Colorado, and Menlo Park, California, respectively. Thousands of other USGS employees are working in every State in the Nation.

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Episode 16: MFJ Enterprises Interview

It’s another fun packed episode. Amateur Logic #16

George has a very interesting interview with Martin F. Jue, President and founder of MFJ Enterprises.

Peter demonstrates his WokTenna from the mountain tops downunder.

Tommy talks about the automatic tuning Yaesu ATAS-120 mobile antenna.

Jim has another Network Tools segment featuring the powerful Netstat.

And George demonstrates the Softrock Software Defined Radio using the M0KGK SDR decoder software.

Directions to Hamfest

Hello everyone,

If you have never been to the Oak Ridge Hamfest you can get driving directions HERE. If you have any questions please leave a comment or email me directly.

73, de N4CQW Moe

[ACARES] Anderson County ARES Net, 10/9/2007, 7:00 pm

Reminder from:		ACARES Yahoo! Group
Title:		Anderson County ARES Net
Date:		Tuesday October 9, 2007
Time:		7:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Repeats:		This event repeats every week.
Location:		146.880 Repeater
Notes:		Backup frequencies if 146.880 is unavailable: 146.970 147.360 100Hz Tone 147.420 (Simplex)
Get reminders on your mobile, Yahoo! Messenger, and email. Edit reminder options

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SPONSORED LINKS

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Child Abduction Emergency

Anderson (Tennessee)

TNC001-007-009-011-013-019-025-029-057-059-063-065-067-073-089-091- 093-105-107-115-121-123-129-139-143-145-151-153-155-163-171-173-179- 092045- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED CHILD ABDUCTION EMERGENCY TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION NASHVILLE TN RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 145 PM CDT TUE OCT 9 2007 ...AMBER ALERT... THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION. AN EASTERN TENNESSEE REGIONAL AMBER ALERT HAS BEEN ISSUED BY THE WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE FOR COURTNEE LEAH MAUPIN. SHE WAS ABDUCTED BY HER FATHER CORY MAUPIN WHO HAS THREATENED HER LIFE AND HIS LIFE. COURTNEE MAUPIN IS A 5 MONTH OLD WHITE FEMALE. SHE IS 23 INCHES LONG AND WEIGHS 17 POUNDS WITH BLUE EYES AND BROWN HAIR. COURTNEE WAS LAST SEEN WEARING A WHITE ONESIE OUTFIT WITH YELLOW DUCKS IN THE FRONT. THE FATHER CORY MAUPIN IS A 19 YEAR OLD WHITE MALE WITH BLACK HAIR AND BROWN EYES. HE IS 5 FEET AND 7 INCHES TALL AND WEIGHS 150 POUNDS. CORY MAUPIN IS DRIVING A 1981 BLUE FLEETWOOD CADILLAC WITH TENNESSEE REGISTRATION 4 2 4 R J K WITH THE CADILLAC EMBLEM MISSING FROM THE TRUNK. $$ JAO 

--
Moe Brewer  N4CQW
Anderson County Assistant EC

[ACARES] Anderson County ARES Net, 10/9/2007, 7:00 pm

Reminder from:		ACARES Yahoo! Group
Title:		Anderson County ARES Net
Date:		Tuesday October 9, 2007
Time:		7:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Repeats:		This event repeats every week.
Next reminder:		The next reminder for this event will be sent in 23 hours, 2 minutes.
Location:		146.880 Repeater
Notes:		Backup frequencies if 146.880 is unavailable: 146.970 147.360 100Hz Tone 147.420 (Simplex)
Get reminders on your mobile, Yahoo! Messenger, and email. Edit reminder options

Copyright © 2007  Yahoo! Inc. All Rights Reserved | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy __._,_.___

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
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News letter and Hamfest

Hi everyone,

I am way behind again. Soccer has kept me tied up. Get a little time off for Fall Break and I am trying to get caught up.

I have uploaded the September newsletter to the website September News Letter and will get the one for October posted as soon as I get it.

The NEW October issue and previous monthly News Letters can be found here.

I have also updated the hamfest pages. Oak Ridge 2007 Hamfest Please look over them and make sure everything is correct.

I hope to make the meeting tomorrow and will be at the Hamfest.

Anything else I can do to help?

Jeff
K4IK

YouTube Video's about "Evil Ham Radio"

Interesting YouTube videos I came across...

"Those men seem so... threatening!"



"...and here's the inevitable neighborhood mob all amateurs must face!"



I have to give credit to Steve, W4HKL from the Mountain Amateur Radio Club for these.

Gray Hamfest

The Gray Hamfest® Association is pleased to announce the second-annual ARRL sanctioned hamfest in Gray, Tennessee. This year's event will again be held at the Gray Appalachian Fairgounds, located in the Tri-Cities metropolitan area (Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport) of northeast Tennessee.

Admission: $6 (under 12 free)

Parking: Free (with admission)

Hours: 08:00 - 14:00

Talk-in:
146.700 MHz (PL 103.5)
146.520 MHz [Simplex]

Expect to enjoy a variety of exhibitors, plenty of tailgating (with provisions for rain), hourly prizes, forums, an ARRL VE test session, good food, RV camping, and an opportunity to meet new and old friends face-to-face. Put this date on your calendar and join us for a radio-active time.

Directions can be found here.

HF Radio Propagation Primer

by AE4RV

Use this Flash movie to learn how HF or "Short-wave" radio works. Learn about the Ionosphere, Solar Flares, and why radio waves skip or refract off of the different layers of the Ionosphere. Learn how space weather affects radio conditions. This presentation is useful for Ham radio operators, DX'ers and SWL's (shortwave listeners).

The movie can be found here or directly downloaded here.

73, de N4CQW

Note: this requires

ARES Application Form

Thanks to Steve KI4RGN he pointed out in the new website design I left the ARES application link off the new homepage. The link is availiable at the bottom of the page or here to download the pdf file.

Please let me know if I have left anything out on the new site that you would like to see again from the old one.

73, de N4CQW Moe

When all lines go down in an emergency, one channel still remains

By KOMO Staff Reporters
Courtesy of KOMO TV

SEATTLE -- Chaos broke loose at the South Seattle Community College, where experts and volunteers simulated a citywide emergency on Saturday during a drill aimed to answer the question - what do you do when all lines of communication are down?

The drill, which was run by Seattle utilities and Seattle Auxiliary Communication Service, proved that ham radios are the answer.

Ham radios are the little-known backup tool that makes sure emergency crews know where they're needed most in case of a chaotic emergency. The ham radio operators with ACS can get messages across even when a storm knocks down trees and floods the streets.

"It's critical because nobody else can do this work," said Don Diebert.

Remember Morse code? Jim Hadlock is still fluent.

"You can get through with morse code with less power. It gets through noise better," he said. "It's easier to hear than a voice signal."

And the entire command center is portable. Operators can pass on critical information without even being plugged in.

Most people don't know about the critical need ham operators fill, but the lack of gratitude doesn't deter the operators.

"This has been my hobby for 50 years and it's important to me, and it's a way I can help the community," Hadlock said.

And when the community needs them most, the operators will be there.

Seattle Auxiliary Communications is always looking for volunteers. Those who want to help do not have to own a ham radio.

For more information on volunteering, visit the group's Web site.

It Seems to Us: Interoperability

By David Sumner, K1ZZ
October 1, 2007
Courtesy of ARRL Website

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"Interoperability" is a big word with many different definitions depending on the context. In radio it means, broadly, the ability of operators or devices to communicate (that is, to exchange information) with one another. Interoperability normally refers to the characteristics of equipment rather than to operators although language and jargon also can be barriers to communication.


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Public safety communicators have been grappling with the problem of interoperability for decades. When everyone used analog FM voice it was possible, in principle, to solve the problem simply by designating a common frequency. In practice it wasn't always that easy. Different agencies used different frequency bands, and even when they could get on the same frequency they couldn't talk very far and often used different jargon. The emergence of a variety of trunked and digital systems exacerbated the situation. Today there are technical solutions to the public safety interoperability problem -- but they depend on the availability of specific hardware, training, and a willingness on the part of agencies to relinquish control.

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