eHam.net News

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Hamvention Finds New Home:

Posted: 01 Aug 2016 06:34 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37294


Greene County officials announced Monday that the annual Hamvention event
will relocate to the fairgrounds in Xenia after the Hara Arena closes.
Greene County Agricultural Society Board of Directors made the announcement
in partnership with Greene County Board of Commissioners, city of Xenia and
Greene County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Since 1952, Hamvention, a
multi-day convention of ham radios, has been sponsored by the Dayton
Amateur Radio Association. "We are so excited to be working with the Dayton
Hamvention to bring an event of this caliber to the Fairgrounds and Expo
Center," said Alan Anderson president of the Greene County Board of
Commissioners, in a release. "Spend time with this group of professionals
and volunteers and their passion for running a first-class event
immediately becomes abundantly clear."


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The Magic of Radio Captured in a Novel:

Posted: 01 Aug 2016 06:34 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37293


I thought I would share with you all the link to the latest novel a friend
of mine lent me. She knew I collected, fixed and played with ham radio.
Hence the reason why she pass me along the book.


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Backups for The Big One: Amateur Radio Club Preps for Worst-Case-Scenario:

Posted: 31 Jul 2016 05:15 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37292


When disaster strikes and communication lines fail, a little-known team of
volunteer amateur radio enthusiasts and hospital staff members could be the
difference in getting Corvallis the help it needs to save lives. During a
catastrophe, hospital staff at Corvallis' Good Samaritan Regional Medical
Center are likely to rely on smartphones and Wi-Fi to communicate with
other agencies. But in a worst-case scenario -- like the Cascadia
subduction zone 9.0-magnitude earthquake -- the entire city's
infrastructure could be decimated and cellphone towers could be knocked
out. And that's where the hospital's amateur radio team, known as the
Amateur Radio Emergency Services club, comes in. Each month, the group
tests its timeworn amateur radios in a small room tucked away in a corner
of the hospital, training on disaster scenarios, preparing in case one day
the worst has happened -- and its members need to get the word out. "This
is one of those things that everybody finds annoying and nobody thinks
about," said club member Samantha Hendrickson, a certified nursing
assistant. "But when it gets really, really, really bad and you are
literally just down to radio, suddenly all of the little tiny things we've
been asking for and training for in our tiny closet become very important."
During a disaster, a separate county amateur radio group likely would be
deployed to monitor the county and there are no guarantees the county team
could assist the hospital with all of its needs. So, wanting to be prepared
for all possible scenarios, Vicky Lyons, the hospital's emergency
management coordinator, organized the hospital's own amateur radio club
last year that would focus exclusively on the hospital while still
communicating with the county team.


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Buzz Kills the Fun for Bristol Township Ham Radio Operator:

Posted: 31 Jul 2016 05:11 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37291


When he decided to become a ham radio operator, Charles Dillenbeck, of
Bristol Township, went all out for his new hobby. He purchased the Cadillac
of radios -- an $8,000 model that allows him to chat for a few hours every
night with amateur radio enthusiasts around the world. Five antennae
surround his house. Then one night this spring, the static he normally
heard on different frequencies became much louder, so loud he could barely
hear the the people with whom he was chatting. "I can get rid of the noise
(by turning down the volume), but then I wouldn't hear anything at all," he
explained. A few days later, as Dillenbeck -- a Navy veteran and retired
commercial heating and refrigeration engineer -- stared out a window in his
home trying to figure out the problem, the street light came on.
Immediately, the static started again. Was it the light, he wondered. It
turns out Bristol Township installed a new LED fixture in the light in
front of his house as part of its plan to replace incandescent street
lights with cost-saving LED bulbs. "The old lights didn't interfere at
all," Dillenbeck said. He talked with another ham radio enthusiast who
lives in the township who also had the same problem. He used a "noise
finder" piece of equipment to test other street lights. The same static
occurred, he said. The electronics in the new lights appeared to be causing
the static. An recent report supports his theory. LED lights and other
electronic equipment are creating more radio frequency interference for the
more than 725,000 amateur -- or ham -- radio operators in the United
States, according to the report issued in June by the American Radio Relay
League, a national association for amateur radio users. And the problem
could affect emergency communication centers, because LED lighting is
gaining popularity since the federal Energy Independence and Security Act
of 2007 required more energy efficient lighting equipment. National Public
Safety Telecommunications Council statistics show that LED lights, which
can use 75 percent less energy and last 35 to 50 percent longer than
incandescent bulbs, are expected to account for 52 percent of lighting used
commercially by 2021.


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Amateur Radio Newsline Headlines for Ham Nation:

Posted: 30 Jul 2016 05:00 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37290


Amateur Radio Newsline headlines for Ham Nation. August 3, 2016.


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We're Giving Away Over 50 SDR Receivers:

Posted: 30 Jul 2016 05:00 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37289


NooElec and AmateurRadio.com have teamed up (again!)
to give away Over 50 SDR Radio Receivers
to 30 lucky ham radio operators worldwide.