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Old January 9th 17, 01:18 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.dx,rec.radio.info
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Default This Week in Amateur Radio News for Sunday 8 January 2017

TWIAR News Feed

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GigaParts opens new distribution center in Las Vegas

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 01:10 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2iXjFlW

After Amateur Electronic Supply went out of business in July, GigaParts
began hiring the AES staff in Las Vegas and working on moving the operation
to a new location less than 5 minutes from the famous Las Vegas Strip and
just 3 miles from the former AES building.

Although the retail showroom won't be ready for visitors for another few
months, starting today, the Las Vegas store becomes the primary
distribution center for GigaParts shipments to the western half of the US.
That means fast, affordable shipping to the huge population of hams in
California and other western states, without sales tax!

Former AES customers will see some familiar faces at GigaParts Las Vegas,
including AES’s former shipping manager, Terry Spaulding, and store
manager, Julio Suarez. "I'm excited to be back and I'm looking forward to
helping all of my old friends again," said Julio. "AES was iconic in ham
radio and it was sad to see it die off, but we have an opportunity with
GigaParts to do things better than we ever could before," he continued.

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60m band allocated in Kazakhstan

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 01:03 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2i7W8gN

According to the letter from the state enterprise 'Committee on state
control in sphere of telecommunications, informatization and mass media'
which is the radio spectrum management authority in Kazakhstan with the
outbound # 16-1/1824-i dated 22nd of December 2016, the amateur radio
service in Kazakhstan has been allocated the 5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz band (60m)
on the secondary basis.

This allocation is received after the Association of the Amateur Radio
Services of Kazakhstan has addressed the issue to the Minister on
information and communications of Kazakhstan, Mr. D. A. Abayev, in order to
allow allocation of the band based on resolutions of the WRC-15. Thus, now
the Kazakhstani radio amateurs have received the new HF band for their use.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Amateur radio headed to Pickaway-Ross

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:58 PM PST
http://ohne.ws/2iS5opU

Pickaway-Ross Career and Technology Center science instructor David
Pentecost has a philosophy that he always tries to live by.

"If you don't take a chance, you don't have a chance," he says.

With that in mind, a recent chance he took in partnership with engineering
program instructor Mark Johnston appears poised to pay off for the school
and some of its students as they prepare to enter the world of amateur
radio — what many people prefer to call ham radio, although Pentecost is
not fond of that phrase.

Acting on something that has been kicked around as a possibility for a
couple of years now, Pentecost sent a grant request to the Amateur Radio
Relay League seeking funds for amateur radio station equipment with the
intent of augmenting the engineering program and attracting interested
students into the world of wireless communication and other related
technologies.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Talking about the importance of amateur radio with Ken Howard

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:48 PM PST
http://twiar.net/2017/01/08/talking-...ward-kentucky/

Amateur radio, also known as “ham” radio, is a popular hobby for many
across the world and has been around for over 100 years.* Amateur radio is
a form of communication using just a radio and antenna to contact and talk
with people around the world using FCC allocated frequencies.* Don’t let
the word “amateur” fool you though.* For decades, it has aided
communication in many emergency situations, including 9/11 and Hurricane
Katrina. “I can talk from here to California or wherever with only my radio
and antenna.* There’s no internet, no landline, and no satellite required.*
If all communication infrastructure goes down, you can still use ham radio
to communicate.” says Ken Howard.
Ken Howard is the Volunteer Ham Radio Operator for the EOC in Stanton.* He
has been working with amateur radios for over 20 years.* Howard’s goal is
to bring more attention to the hobby and to get more young people
involved.* “There’s no age limit to get an operators license so it’s a
great way to get kids interested in technology.* The way technology is
these days, you can’t get enough knowledge about it.”
To demonstrate the efficiency of amateur radio, Howard made contact with
another operator in Garrard County named Jim.* Communication was reached
with incredible speed and ease.* “That’s why all this equipment is here in
the EOC.* If something were to happen and communication was lost, we could
still talk to Frankfort using this.* I could get a message there faster
than dialing a phone number.”
To use ham radio, a license is required.* To obtain a license, you must
pass an administered exam in one of the three levels; Technician class,
General class, and Extra class.* Technician class is the most popular
choice for newcomers and with it, you will be allowed to communicate mainly
locally using your radio.* General class allows you to use higher
frequencies for your communication.* The highest level available is Extra
class, which allows you to use all frequencies, including some specially
allocated to Extra’s only.* Anyone interested in becoming licensed can find
study materials for all of the levels online, including practice exams to
help you.* There is also the Pioneer Amateur Radio Club based in Winchester
for those interested in learning more.
Howard will be holding a meeting on February 9 at 7 p.m. in the EOC
building in Stanton.* The meeting will be open to the public and everyone,
including current ham radio operators in the county, are invited to come.*
There will be discussion on the future of ham radio and getting more people
interested.
If you would like to know more about amateur radio or would like to get
information on testing location and dates, you can visit, www.arrl.org.


///////////////////////////////////////////
Ely connects via ham radio to North Country Scenic Trail (Minnesota)

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:43 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2i7GFNH

BROADCASTING via ham radio from a snowy Sheridan Street was George Burger.

Through the local ham radio club, Ely was part of a national event
sponsored by the American Radio Relay League.
George Burger, a member of the Vermilion Range Amateur Radio Club, set up a
radio on Dec. 31 just off Sheridan Street, which happens to be part of the
North Country Scenic Trail (a National Park Unit), and participated in an
activation of the North Country Scenic Trail.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Roland man tapping into global airwaves (Arkansas)

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:33 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2iSugMu

For more than 15 years, Mike Cole's blindness has failed to dilute his
still-growing passion for the amateur-radio world.

A 1974 Southside High School graduate who has lived in Roland since 1987,
the 60-year-old Cole has used his ham radio equipment to communicate with
fellow ham operators who live in Canada, Japan, Afghanistan, Argentina,
Germany, Aruba, Amsterdam, New Zealand and, in his words, "over the North
Pole in arctic Russia," among other regions. More than 30,000 of Cole's ham
radio contacts are stored in his amateur radio system, which includes
store-bought equipment that rests alongside computers, transmitters and
receivers he has rebuilt over the years.

"Amateur radio gives me something to do; it's a hobby, and it's also a
useful tool for the community," said Cole, whose ham handle is W5TMC. "With
amateur radio, you get to get on the air and talk to people who are from
all over the country, and with people from all over the world. When some of
those people come stateside, they will call me and my wife, Melisia, and we
will go meet them to go eat with them.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Winter Field Day is Just Ahead

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:24 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2i7Fduy

Field Day is not just for summertime anymore. Winter Field Day, sponsored
by the Winter Field Day Association (WFDA), will take place over the
January 28-29 weekend, and it can be a terrific time to prep for ARRL Field
Day in June. The annual event’s stated purpose is to encourage emergency
operating preparedness in the winter, but it’s also an excuse to get out of
the house and enjoy the great outdoors. According to the WFDA, getting
ready for emergency communication in a winter environment is just as
important as the preparations and practice that take place each June during
ARRL Field Day, and — let’s face it — it’s not cold and snowy everywhere
during the winter months. Your local climate could be quite the opposite.

“Don’t let those winter doldrums keep you locked up in the house,” the WFDA
says. “Get out and play some radio!” The WFDA said it believes that
maintaining operating skills should not be limited to fair-weather
scenarios.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Company bricks software of customer who complained about it online

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:24 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2iSAa05

A software company in Tampa, Florida, has been called out for intentionally
“bricking” a copy of its software, or making it non-functional, on the
computer of a customer who had complained about it online.

Ham Radio Deluxe, as the name suggests, produces software for ham radio
enthusiasts, including support for radio control and log keeping. But that
support apparently didn’t extend to working properly on Microsoft Corp.’s
Windows 10 operating software, and that’s where the story starts.

A customer who goes by the call sign N2SUB took to the forums on eHam.net
to call out the compatibility problems the software has in Windows 10,
despite the company claiming that it was compatible.

The customer didn’t hold back, writing that “If [Ham Radio Deluxe has]
known problems, like compatibility issues with Microsoft products, you need
to release a hotfix. It would take a day to create a script to do all of
the things your page says to do, and it would be idiot proof” before adding
“Know what you’re getting before you drop the money on software that, in my
opinion, is not mature.”

///////////////////////////////////////////
Broadcasting Mode Switching Rankling Listeners

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 12:12 PM PST
http://ift.tt/2iZvTY5

Norway is going forward with plans to replace its national FM broadcasting
network with digital-mode outlets by the end of 2017 — the first nation to
do so across the board. Norway’s Ministry of Culture first proposed the
switch more than 5 years ago. The first official switchover to digital
audio broadcasting is set for January 11 (at 11:11:11 AM) in Nordland, and
the change will take place state by state. Norway already offers 25
national digital channels and only five on analog FM. Local radio stations
outside of major cities in Norway will continue to broadcast on FM.

A typical DAB signal occupies approximately 1.5 MHz of spectrum wide and is
comprised of 1500 individual carriers. The signal then can be subdivided
into multiple digital program streams. DAB employs a Coded Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiplex (COFDM) modulation scheme, a form of spread
spectrum. Transmitted data are shared among the individual carriers to
minimize selective fading due to multipath effects.

///////////////////////////////////////////
via HACKADAY: The Poynting Vector Antenna

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:50 AM PST
http://ift.tt/2iOfje1

Radio amateurs are inventive people, and though not all of them choose to
follow it there is a healthy culture of buildng radio equipment among them.
In particular the field of antennas is where you’ll find a lot of their
work, because the barrier to entry can be as low as the cost of a reel of
wire.

Over the years a number of innovative antenna designs have come from radio
amateurs’ experimentation, and it’s one of the more recent we’d like to
share with you today following a [Southgate ARC] story about a book
describing its theory (Here’s an Amazon link to the book itself). The
Poynting Vector antenna has been one of those novel designs on the fringes
for a while now, it has been variously described as the “Super-T”, or the
“flute”. Its party piece is tiny dimensions, a fraction of the size of a
conventional dipole, and it achieves that by the interaction between a
magnetic field across the plates of a capacitor in a tuned circuit and the
electric field between a very short pair of dipole radiators. The trade-off
is that it has an extremely high Q and thus a narrow bandwidth, and since
its feeder can become part of its resonant circuit it is notoriously
difficult to match to a transmitter. [Alan MacDonald, VE3TET] and [Paul
Birke, VE3PVB] have a detailed page on the development of their Poynting
antenna which takes the reader through the details of its theory and the
development of their practical version.

///////////////////////////////////////////
FCC Dismisses Two Petitions from Radio Amateurs

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:55 AM PST
http://ift.tt/2iUMxYS

The FCC has turned down two petitions filed in 2016, each seeking similar
changes in the Part 97 Amateur Service rules. James Edwin Whedbee, N0ECN,
of Gladstone, Missouri, had asked the Commission to amend the rules to
reduce the number of Amateur Radio operator classes to Technician, General,
and Amateur Extra by merging remaining Novice class licensees into the
Technician class and all Advanced class licensees into the Amateur Extra
class. In a somewhat related petition, Jeffrey H. Siegell, WB2YRL, of
Burke, Virginia, had requested that the FCC grant Advanced class license
holders Morse code operating privileges equivalent to those enjoyed by
Amateur Extra class licensees.

“Thus, Mr. Siegell’s proposed rule change is subsumed within the changes
Mr. Whedbee requests, so our analysis is the same for both proposals,” the
FCC said in dismissing the two petitions on January 5.

///////////////////////////////////////////
630 Meters Becoming a "Mainstream Amateur Band, Experiment Coordinator Says

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:55 AM PST
http://ift.tt/2hXp0Z1

The coordinator of the ARRL’s WD2XSH 600-Meter Experimental Group — Fritz
Raab, W1FR — said in his latest quarterly report that 630 meters is
becoming quite active, with both Amateur Radio and Part 5 Experimental
stations taking advantage of the band, which is still not available in the
US.

“Band activity has been very high, and there are often more WSPR stations —
more than 110 stations — on 472 kHz than on 80 or 160 meters!” Raab said.
WSPR, which stands for “Weak Signal Propagation Reporter,” is software
designed for transmitting and receiving low-power transmissions to test
propagation paths on MF and HF.

“In a sense, 630 meters has become a mainstream ham band, in spite of not
being authorized in the US,” Raab said. To boost activity, a second annual
Midwinter 630-Meter Operating Activity Night will take place on February
4-5. Details will be announced.

///////////////////////////////////////////
via HACKADAY: Visualization of a Phased Array Antenna System

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:40 AM PST
http://ift.tt/2if3wol

Phased array antenna systems are at the cusp of ubiquity. We now see
Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna systems on WiFi routers. Soon
phased array weather radar systems will help to predict the weather and
keep air travel safe, and phased array base stations will be the backbone
of 5G which is the next generation of wireless data communication. But
what is a phased array antenna system? How do they work? With the help of
1024 LEDs we’ll show you.

It’s good to first review what phased array antenna technology has been
used for in the past, where it is today, and where it is going, then we
will show you how it all works.

///////////////////////////////////////////
via HACKADAY: A Ten Turn Pot, For Not A Lot

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:40 AM PST
http://ift.tt/2iGGNow

If you have a traditional regulated power supply that you want to make
adjustable, you’ll have somewhere in the circuit a feedback line driven by
a potential divider across the output. That divider will probably
incorporate a variable resistor, which you’ll adjust to select your desired
voltage.

The problem with using a standard pot to adjust something like a power
supply is that a large voltage range is spread across a relatively small
angle. The tiniest movement of the shaft results in too large a voltage
change for real fine-tuning, so clearly a better means of adjustment is
called for. And in many cases that need is satisfied with a ten-turn
potentiometer, simply a pot with a 10 to 1 reduction drive built-in.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Radio Club of America Announces New "Wireless Women" Section on Website

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:40 AM PST
http://ift.tt/2iIWBVj

In an effort to encourage more participation of women and girls in the
wireless industry, the Radio Club of America (RCA) has created a new
“Wireless Women” section on its website, designed to assist women
considering careers in wireless and encouraging them to get involved in
technology. Information includes resources such as “Notable Women in
Wireless,” “RCA’s Vivian Carr Award,” and “Professional Wireless
Organizations for Women,” as well as web resources for females of all ages
interested in wireless. There’s also a list of universities that have an
engineering focus and significant female enrollment.

“RCA has a long history of recognizing the achievements of women in
wireless,” RCA President Tim Duffy, K3LR, said. “Three former RCA
presidents are women, and we have many female officers, directors, and
committee members. We created the Vivian Carr award in 2014 to recognize
women who have contributed significantly to the wireless industry, and
Director Carole Perry [WB2MGP] has led RCA’s effort to educate youth about
wireless for decades.”

///////////////////////////////////////////
Boy Scouts Radio Merit Badge Requirements to Include Amateur Radio
Direction Finding Option

Posted: 08 Jan 2017 11:40 AM PST
http://ift.tt/2iPVN0n

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have updated the requirements for the Radio
Merit Badge for 2017. A new option for the Radio Merit Badge is Amateur
Radio Direction Finding (ARDF). ARRL ARDF Coordinator Joe Moell, K0OV, said
he’s “really excited” about the move, and he credited Jamboree on the Air
Coordinator (JOTA) and K2BSA trustee Jim Wilson, K5ND, with being the
“spark plug” behind the ARDF addition.

“Jim visited a training session at the USA ARDF Championships in Texas last
April and realized what an excellent activity that on-foot hidden
transmitter hunting can be for Scouts,” Moell recounted. “Working with
Brian Coleman, KB0MAP, Jim authored the new ARDF Radio Merit Badge
syllabus, which was then reviewed by several leaders of US ARDF community.”

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