Category Archives: Ham Radio

No new metal building for 2019 Hamvention

The white event tents that house a large number of vendors.

CQ Magazine report there will still be tents for some commercial exhibitors at next year’s Dayton Hamvention.

In one of their first acts as leaders of the 2019 Hamvention, General Chairman Jack Gerbs, WB8SCT, and Assistant General Chairman Rick Allnutt, WS8G, announced on August 5th that they had been unable so far “to reach an agreement on a long-term contract (with Greene County officials) where both the Fairgrounds and Hamvention would feel comfortable erecting a new building.”

The announcement was made “in the spirit of being transparent,” they said. Gerbs and Allnut stressed that the overall relationship between the Dayton Amateur Radio Association and Greene County remains excellent and the Hamvention will continue to be held at the fairgrounds in Xenia. They cited improvements made for the 2018 show and promised more for 2019. However, a new commercial exhibits building will not be among them.

The 2019 Dayton Hamvention is scheduled for May 17-19.

CQ Magazine
http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/

I’ll admit: this is disappointing news. I’ve had a table in the tents the past two years at Hamvention. The first year (2017), the tents were pretty dismal–lighting was almost nonexistent and there was serious water intrusion.

This year, DARA obtained much better tents and did a proper job securing the walls and avoiding the drainage areas. Still, water intrusion was an issue. If it rained (and it did) the floors (i.e. asphalt) got wet. Vendors had to keep their inventory off of the floor at all times, else it would get soaked. Since so many products are stored in cardboard boxes, are electronic, and not waterproof, this was a serious issue. I spoke to one of the larger tent vendors who was really upset about the water intrusion and lack of security and vowed not to return unless they could get a proper indoor space.

To please outdoor tent vendors, I believe DARA ought to give discounted pricing for those spaces, increase security, and at least provide crates or pallets to help vendors keep their inventory from contacting the ground and getting soaked.

Click here to read our review of the 2017 Hamvention–the first at the Greene County Fairgrounds.

Video: Tamitha Skov forecasts “A Bright and Bumpy Ride”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Hansgen (K8RAT), for sharing the latest forecast from Tamitha Skov:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Swedish national societies make magazines available

RSGB to release new amateur radio exam syllabus

Repeat repeater offender proposed $18,000 FCC fine

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(Source: ARRL News)

The FCC has issued a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) proposing to fine Jerry W. Materne, KC5CSG, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, $18,000 “for apparently causing intentional interference and for apparently failing to provide station identification on amateur radio frequencies,” the FCC said.

“Mr. Materne was previously warned regarding this behavior in writing by the Enforcement Bureau and, given his history as a repeat offender, these apparent violations warrant a significant penalty,” the FCC said in the NAL, released on July 25.

In 2017, the FCC received numerous complaints alleging that Materne was causing interference to the W5BII repeater, preventing other amateur licensees from using it. In March 2017, the repeater trustee banned Materne from using the repeater.

Responding to some of the complaints, the Enforcement Bureau issued a Letter of Inquiry (LOI), advising Materne of the allegations and directing him to address them. Materne denied causing interference but admitted to operating simplex on the repeater’s output frequency. In June 2017, the FCC received an additional complaint alleging that Materne had repeatedly interfered with an attempted emergency net that was called up as Tropical Storm Cindy was about to make landfall. The complaint maintained that Materne “repeatedly transmitted on the repeater’s input frequency, hindering the local emergency net’s ability to coordinate weather warnings and alerts on behalf of the National Weather Service,” the FCC said in the NAL.

Local amateurs were able to track the interfering signal to Materne’s residence and confirmed their findings to the FCC, prompting a Warning Letter advising Materne of the complaint and pointing out that his behavior “as described in the complaint would be a violation of Section 97.101(d) of the Commission’s rules.”[…]

Click here to read full story at the ARRL.

HAARP WSPR 80m transmissions July 30 – Aug 1

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(Source: Southgate ARC)

Chris Fallen KL3WX will be using 80 kilowatts into the massive HAARP antenna array in Alaska for WSPR experiments in the 80m band from July 30 to August 1

Chris KL3WX tweeted:

WSPR experiments are tentatively planned to occur between 2300 and 2400 hours UTC on July 30, 31, and Aug 1. Most broadcasts will be at the 80m dial frequency default in WSJT, that is 3.5926 MHz with AM (3 dB loss) because HAARP does not have an upper side band (USB) mode yet!

For updates follow Chris KL3WX on Twitter at
https://twitter.com/ctfallen

University of Alaska Fairbanks HAARP
https://twitter.com/uafhaarp

HAARP FAQ
https://www.gi.alaska.edu/haarp/faq

WSPRnet
http://wsprnet.org/

Building the Cricket QRP Transceiver at HOPE 2018

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m currently at the Circle of HOPE (Hackers On Planet Earth) convention in New York City.

Yesterday morning, I grabbed some breakfast and a cup of coffee then headed to the Hardware Hacking Village–a space in the Hotel Pennsylvania with over 50 soldering stations–sat down and started to build the Cricket QRP transceiver.

I’ve always found that kit building and soldering calms my nerves and since my presentation was later that day, it was just what the doctor ordered.

I opened up the kit at 9:00 am and started working.

All of the components were accounted for and the instructions were clear and easy to follow.

Although I didn’t need extra help I did have the extraordinary luxury of having the kit’s designer, my buddy David Cripe (NM0S), sitting across the table from me at one point.

Dave (NM0S) giving my Cricket the nod of approval.

The Cricket was incredibly easy to build, taking only about one hour or less start to finish.

The cool thing about this transceiver is that there are no coils to wind (they’re traced into the board) and by breaking off a pre-scored length of the circuit board, you can build an on-board hand key.

I had it on the air by 10:30 at the special event station W2H.

The Empire State Building as seen from the roof of the Hotel Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately, the blowtorch AM broadcaster on the Empire State Building (ahem…next door!) overloaded the Cricket in no small way. I was, however, able to confirm output power, audio and that the receiver was functioning.

Most impressed!