eHam.net News

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Utah Amateur Radio Enthusiasts to Gather at Hamfest:

Posted: 08 Jul 2016 05:22 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37143


Utah's amateur radio community is holding the 2016 Great Salt Lake Hamfest
this weekend. A Hamfest has not been held in this area for several decades.
Michael and Susan Smith live in a typical Sugarhouse home, but if you look
up at the roof, you'll notice an array of antennas. Every Wednesday night
they huddle around one of their many radios to check in to their local
Amateur Radio Emergency Service for a kind of practice run known as a
net. "This is Kilo Mike Seven Tango Mike Sierra, Mike in Salt Lake City
checking in," says Michael Smith, otherwise known as KM72MS. He got into
ham radio because of his interest in emergency preparedness. "Desire for
safety in a neighborhood that's prepared in a variety of ways that often
times can come," Smith says. "For instance, we live in a very high
earthquake hazard area, and these things are serious issues."


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How 1 Ham Radio Guy Helped a Special Kids Camp 180 Miles Way on Fi

Posted: 08 Jul 2016 05:22 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37142


ST. GEORGE -- In the age of cell phones and internet, amateur radio
operators - also known as "ham operators" -- are commonly looked upon as an
anachronism, a throwback to earlier times. However, sometimes the old
technology can be more reliable than the new high-tech gadgets and
smartphones. St. George ham operator Lynden Kendrick, who is a member of
the Dixie Amateur Radio Club in St. George, the Community Emergency
Response Team, the American Radio Relay League and Washington County
Amateur Radio Emergency Services recently proved this point. On the evening
of June 26, Kendrick was talking on his radio to a fellow ham in Malad
City, Idaho, on a radio system known locally as the "Intermountain
Intertie," a system of unmanned amateur radio repeaters linked up and down
the state of Utah and into Nevada, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
Kendrick said the ham in Malad City went to get a pencil, and another voice
came on the radio asking for assistance. Kendrick answered the voice,
asking how he could help. The ham on the other end introduced himself as
Mike in Pahrump, Nevada. Mike, who was later identified as Michael Hilbert
of Moab, said the children's ranch where he works was surrounded by fire.
The Lovell Canyon Ranch, also known as the Torino Ranch, is a summer camp
ranch designed for at-risk and special needs children. Hilbert is the
assistant to Brett Torino, the founder and owner of Torino Ranch. All
children who had been camping at the ranch had been evacuated and there was
only staff left at the ranch. Firefighters were controlling the blaze, but
the power was out as were the telephones, internet and cell phone service.
Hilbert asked Kendrick to call the local electric company and let them
know. Kendrick immediately found the phone number for Valley Electric in
Pahrump and got on the telephone with them. With a bit of back-and-forth
between the radio and telephone, Kendrick was able to have the power
company dispatch someone to the ranch to restore power.


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How to Choose a Proper DX Radio:

Posted: 08 Jul 2016 05:21 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37141


Buying your first ham radio equipment is a crucial step for every beginner.
Experienced hams certainly remember that moment as the happiest day in
their lives. We are here to make buying as exciting and safe as possible.
This article contains some useful tips and guides to purchase affordable
and reliable DX radio equipment without facing any difficulties. We will
introduce some of the best sources where you can buy cheap DX radio
stations and all necessary components putting an ease on your wallet.


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Ham Radio Tower Frustrates Maple Ridge Neighbors:

Posted: 08 Jul 2016 05:20 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37140


For 10 years, residents of a Maple Ridge neighbourhood have been fighting
to have an amateur radio tower taken down, but a coalition of ham
enthusiasts says they're providing a valuable service. The tower's
next-door neighbours Al and Evelyn Shkuratomf say it's an intrusive and
dangerous eyesore. They also claim there are no engineering permits or
papers to go along with the ham tower, and worry it could come down in a
big windstorm or earthquake one day. "We have this structure overhanging us
with really no place to fall except on us," said Evelyn. "It's going to
happen at some point in time." To make matters worse, every time their
neighbour starts broadcasting, they start getting strange sounds through
their computer speakers from the radio interference, they say. They've
asked him to take it down, but say he has refused. So for ten years, the
Shkuratomfs have been writing to Industry Canada in Ottawa for help.
Amateur Radio Coalition co-founder James Fowler calls situations like
these "frustrating." "A lot of people just see it as an annoyance," he
said. "That couldn't be further from the truth." Fowler, who has also
battled with his neighbours in Edmonton about his own 15-metre radio tower,
admits that amateur radio operators are often "your typical geekier types"
who admittedly do use the service to simply chat with people from all over
the world. But he says they also help with emergency situations when other
forms of communications aren't available, like wildfires, earthquakes or
even Maydays. "We're not here to **** off the public," Fowler said. "Don't
hate us. We're just trying to help."


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Propagation Forecast Bulletin #28 de K7RA:

Posted: 08 Jul 2016 09:07 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37139


The recent zero-sunspot period (June 23 through July 4) ended with
the appearance of a single sunspot group (2560) on Tuesday, July 5.
Sunspot numbers were 23, 11 and 25 respectively on July 5-7. Compared to
the previous week, average daily sunspot number rose
from 0 to 4.9. Average daily solar flux declined from 75.6 to 73.1.
Average planetary A index dropped from 9 to 6.7 and average
mid-latitude A index declined from 9.1 to 8.3.