While more commonly known among the amateur radio community as a “reflector,” The Southeastern VHF Society recently lost its email listserv (and backups, sadly) host. Instead of trying to rebuild the list, it was decided that the Society would instead use the popular Yahoo! groups format in the old listserv’s place.
Norm, WA4ZXV, is looking for some people to help put on the show that is TechFest, the premier January amateur radio event in the Atlanta area. He writes,
“I’m looking for forums for TechFest, and would like to know what you might like to See/Hear. Also looking for suggestions for demonstration tables.
If you’ve seen a program that you liked, or have questions about one of our many Amateur Radio related modes or methods, let me know.
TechFest is January 11, 2014. Be sure to get the date on your calendar.
We’ll have some great door prizes and super raffle items.”
If you have something you’d like to see or possibly demonstrate for all the OM’s around town, please drop a note to Norm using his call @ arrl.net.
Some friends and I recently took advantage of the nice deal Paul, W1GHZ, had announced regarding his 222 MHz transverter. He came into possession of the necessary TOKO filters and some more power amplifiers- items which until recently had been as rare as hen’s teeth. So, we pooled our resources and purchased three semi-kits from him (board, filter and PA). Maybe next year we will be able to participate in the ARRL August UHF contest, which begins on the 222 MHz band and goes up from there, with our newly constructed transverters! This contest is held on the first weekend of August and this year runs from August 3 1800 UTC to August 4 1800 UTC.
We aren’t populated in the same way as the Northeast or Southwest is with microwave operators, so I imagine the scores will be low for us here, regardless of whether myself or friends get on the bands. The Florida Weak Signal Society probably is going to be the largest hotbed of activity in the Southeast; hope they do well and have fun this year!
I’m currently working on two new blog posts, one about Techfest back in January and the other about this year’s trip to Dayton for Hamvention. Why mention these and not publish them already? When I originally purchased this domain and associated hosting package, I made two resolutions:
1) I would make at least one entry a month.
2) That entry was not to be a “I’m busy,” or some other sort of status that indicates I don’t have enough time to tend to correspondence.
So, since I cannot skip my duty or break my own self imposed promise- backslider!- I thought that while I continue to work on my other two articles (in addition to some other writing projects I’m currently developing) I could instead take this months entry to talk about how I actually create what it is you are reading now. I’m not sure if this will be interesting or helpful to anyone; since I’m paying the bill and it is interesting to me, I’m going to write about it in the hopes it will help someone else looking to improve their craft of technical writing, if there is anything within that is helpful, of course.
Green beans aren’t hard to fix, but they are hard to get fresh so that they can be fixed well. I’ve found that roasting green beans, while hardly new, seemed to help overcome the difficulties associated with beans prepared in a way which would otherwise be unremarkable. The great thing about this recipe is that it can be used either by itself or as a starting point for making a version which includes other items, such a almonds or even roasting the tomatoes with the beans themselves. I’ve made note of the recipe I use when roasting green beans here, or use the Cookery menu above to locate the recipe.
The Southeastern Underground Radio Fellowship- W4SL- would like to announce the activation of the special event callsign N4G for the 2013 Georgia QSO Party, April 13-14.
N4G will be activated from historic DeKalb County and will be active on all the contest bands (160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 and 6 Meters) using CW, Phone and Data. Please look for N4G and spot us when you find us!
N4G operators plan to be active for the entire event (1800Z Saturday until 0359Z Sunday/1400Z-2359Z Sunday); however, we will have periods of downtime due to breaks, band switchovers and operator rotation. Please bear with us during these times.
All QSL requests should be submitted to W4TI either direct or via bureau. Our paper QSL policy is as follows:
Direct SASE/SAE+$2 or IRC – Direct Return
Bureau/Int. SAE + no funds – Bureau Return
QSL Card as postcard/States SAE + no funds – Postcard Return
We will also upload our logs to LoTW.
On behalf of W4SL, we look forward to working you during the 2013 GQP as N4G!
I received many compliments on my white turkey chili which I entered for competition at this years Techfest, an event put on by the Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society. Even though I was the only contestant to have a empty crock pot after lunch had been served, I did not win this year. Bummer. Even so, I promised to put the recipe, which is based on one from Cook’s Illustrated, on my website for the folks who wanted a copy. Either use the Cookery menu above to find the recipe, or simply click here.
We have more interests than we can reasonably pursue. This dilemma leads to one of two approaches to living a happy life: 1) some people attempt, to the exclusion of other interests, to use all their energy, resources and time to pursue one goal or activity, 2) while others prefer an a la carte approach and sample many different activities instead of giving their all to one particular endeavor. And it doesn’t particularly matter what the endeavor is- business, family or hobby- you’ll find one or the other approaches at work.
I’m an a la carte guy. Variety is the spice of life and there is a lot of it in amateur radio. Something I’d like more than a sample of, but simply can’t attempt with my current work schedule, is operating as a rover in a VHF and above contest. I’m relegated, like many amateurs, to reading about other folks exploits in the pages of QST, mailing lists or blogs. Some people attempt rovering with a devil may care attitude and seek nothing more than a good time, perhaps with a friend, on a mini road trip. Others do more than put on a perfunctory show and really plan things down to the very last detail.
W1RT’s VHF Rover van.
And when I say plan to the last detail types who take rover competition seriously, I’m speaking in this case of Andy, K1RA’s recently well done missive about rovering in the Intergalactic Battle Jitney with John, W1RT. This is no ordinary attempt at rovering, as Andy’s in depth writeup details. This is the sort of data driven report that we should be reading in QST instead of the vapid contest reports which are further crippled by “space requirements.” We get the QST column Microwavelengths far too infrequently in my view; but if we need another article about building another regenerative receiver for 40 Meters, well, no problem!
In any case, please give Andy’s article a read. Well done!
The January 2013 VHF Contest, held from 1900 UTC Saturday the 19th thru Monday the 21st until 0359 UTC, is sponsored by the ARRL and has the stated purpose:
“For amateurs in the US and Canada (and their possessions) to work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees x 1 degree Maidenhead grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above 50 MHz. Stations outside the US & Canada (and their possessions) may only work stations in the US (and its posessions) and Canada.”
Wintertime E’s season is upon us. In an attempt to increase contest activity, the rules in this event have been modified to include a new class of operator- FM Only. Now, anyone with a VHF/UHF FM or multiband/multimode radio can participate. So get out there and make a contact! More importantly, submit a log!
Will there be a lot of newcomers to this event due to the rule change? I know a lot of people have been talking about attendence on the various mailing lists and all are interested in the contest results. It’s not clear that this category addition will work in the manner in which it was designed, and since no one is prescient, we’ll have to wait for the data to be released once its compiled. If I were to guess, I’d say that if anything happens, there will be a rising tide raising all boats effect for the larger contest stations, as they will try to pick up the FM fish in the pond- which will lead to a net increase for all large stations (ceteris paribus). The burning question in my mind is: will these FM fish be around for the contest and will small to mid-range stations benefit from the increase?
If this contest has some E’s enhancement, look for more people to stay on 6 Meters than operating on 144, 222 or 432 MHz. Let’s hope we get both E’s propagation and nice weather!
