eHam.net News

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Ham College 12 is Released:

Posted: 02 Jan 2016 05:21 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35880


Ham College episode 12 is now available. We
talk all about repeaters and cover related
questions from the pool.


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Ham Club to Install Packet Radio at Signal Hill Tower:

Posted: 01 Jan 2016 04:41 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35879


The Pacific amateur radio club recently added a new element to its repeater
installation on Signal Hill, one that extends the reach of Franklin County
emergency services. The Pacific Meramec Valley Amateur Radio Club (PMVARC)
was formed as a digital radio club, using the D-Star system. The club
recently added a tri-band antenna on the tower to accommodate packet radio,
a system that uses messages rather than voice. A Raspberry Pi and terminal
node controller (TNC) to receive, store and transmit packet messages also
were installed. Packet radio is the default system for SEMA and most
emergency operations centers (EOCs) in the area. The radio/computer sends
packets of information using radio frequencies (RF), just like a computer
does on the Internet. "Those packets are self-correcting so if any
information is corrupted during transmission the system will ask for a
retransmission," explained Tom Usher, kdøkqq, who assisted with the Pacific
installation. The new Signal Hill installation will be coupled with
Winlink, a radio/internet system, that allows local traffic to be moved
from hams onto the global Internet and back again. "It is the backbone for
the communications system when all else fails," Usher said. Packet radio is
a key element of emergency messaging because it can send typed messages
such as Word or Excel documents that can be transmitted directly to the
receiver or stored on a bulletin board (BBS) to be retransmitted. "It's
effective for complicated messages during an emergency," Usher said.


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Getting the Right Signal:

Posted: 01 Jan 2016 04:41 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35878


Convergence technology has filled up our world with gadgets that seem to
share the inability to switch off. And yet, when they do cop out -- as a
large number of mobile phone users in coastal Tamil Nadu found out in last
month's floods -- the sound of silence is deafening, and potentially
life-threatening. This is where the retro simplicity of a standalone
communication system like amateur radio (also known as ham radio) gets a
chance to burnish its image. "Usually the more sophisticated the
technology, the less foolproof it is," says A. Aslam, assistant professor,
Department of Botany, Jamal Mohamed College and co-founder of the Tiruchi
Amateur Radio Association. "Ham radio is very reliable. If one antenna
falls down, I have a pile of antennae I can choose from. And most of them
are made of junk material, like used aluminium pipes and copper wires. So
it is easy to erect an antenna and start communications."