Category: Amateur Radio

If pirate radio is known for anything, it may very well be best known as one of the largest pranks in radio broadcasting. And if we are talking about pranks, then there is an upcoming holiday that comes to mind with which pirate radio is closely associated- Halloween (and don’t forget April Fools, too)!

The connection between Halloween and pirate radio is natural enough- both are about showing off and performing a prank or two. There are quite a few pirate stations that broadcast, and if you are a real pirate station, then Halloween is your time to shine. Anything goes- it can be talk radio or music of any sort!

Tune your dial to 6.925 or 6.955 USB to find all sorts of broadcasts (some scanning around may be required). Some pirate stations will QSL- follow their on air instructions. Station identifications to look for include, “Captain Morgan,” “Undercover Radio,” “Northwoods Radio,” “Wolverine Radio,” and “WBNY.”

Happy Halloween!

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.

The new Yahoo! Groups web address is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SVHFS

Or you can send an email to the following address to subscribe:

SVHFS-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Please spread the word!

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!

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!

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.

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!

Working weekends, I don’t really get a chance to participate in radio contesting. So, taking a little time after work, I made the following Q’s during the 2012 ARRL 10 Meter Contest. Maybe I worked you? I’ve already submitted a checklog for myself, W4SL and N4PU. Hope you did well- more importantly, hope you had a great time! I’ve also sent QSL’s and uploaded my logs to LoTW. Please do the same! Thanks!

QSO: 28437 PH 2012-12-09 2350 W4TI 59 GA K8GP 59 VA
QSO: 28496 PH 2012-12-09 2344 W4TI 59 GA NR5M 59 TX
QSO: 28494 PH 2012-12-09 2340 W4TI 59 GA W1SJ 59 VT
QSO: 28475 PH 2012-12-09 2339 W4TI 59 GA N2NC 59 NJ
QSO: 28422 PH 2012-12-09 2337 W4TI 59 GA N8II 59 WV
QSO: 28403 PH 2012-12-09 2335 W4TI 59 GA VE3KZ 59 ON
QSO: 28377 PH 2012-12-09 2333 W4TI 59 GA AA2A 59 MA
QSO: 28452 PH 2012-12-09 2323 W4TI 59 GA N0XR 59 IA
QSO: 28404 PH 2012-12-09 2316 W4TI 59 GA W3EP 59 CT
QSO: 28469 PH 2012-12-09 1452 W4TI 59 GA PJ5J 59 108
QSO: 28470 PH 2012-12-09 0315 W4TI 59 GA WO4DX 59 GA
QSO: 28442 PH 2012-12-09 0311 W4TI 59 GA AF1T 59 NH
QSO: 28411 PH 2012-12-09 0254 W4TI 59 GA K0HA 59 NE
QSO: 28481 PH 2012-12-09 0241 W4TI 59 GA AC0W 59 MN
QSO: 28437 PH 2012-12-09 0238 W4TI 59 GA K0MD 59 MN
QSO: 28412 PH 2012-12-09 0232 W4TI 59 GA KE0L 59 MN
QSO: 28409 PH 2012-12-09 0217 W4TI 59 GA KD0S 59 SD
QSO: 28420 PH 2012-12-09 0215 W4TI 59 GA NX0X 59 MN
QSO: 28472 PH 2012-12-09 0207 W4TI 59 GA K1WHS 59 ME
QSO: 28391 PH 2012-12-09 0126 W4TI 59 GA KI0F 59 MN
QSO: 28378 PH 2012-12-09 0121 W4TI 59 GA KB0EO 59 MN
QSO: 28370 PH 2012-12-09 0116 W4TI 59 GA K4AAK 59 GA
QSO: 28400 PH 2012-12-08 2343 W4TI 59 GA K4XS 59 FL
QSO: 28360 PH 2012-12-08 0226 W4TI 59 GA W4GKF 59 GA
QSO: 28480 PH 2012-12-08 0222 W4TI 59 GA KE4CQ 59 GA
QSO: 28445 PH 2012-12-08 0215 W4TI 59 GA WW4LL 59 GA
QSO: 28404 PH 2012-12-08 0211 W4TI 59 GA N0AT 59 MN
QSO: 28422 PH 2012-12-08 0206 W4TI 59 GA WB9TFH 59 WI
QSO: 28430 PH 2012-12-08 0200 W4TI 59 GA K4NV 59 GA
QSO: 28408 PH 2012-12-08 0140 W4TI 59 GA K0TT 59 MN
QSO: 28407 PH 2012-12-08 0118 W4TI 59 GA K1LZ 59 MA
QSO: 28405 PH 2012-12-08 0033 W4TI 59 GA AA1JD 59 MA
END-OF-LOG:

Learning and writing about ethics and ethical topics is hard. I ought to know, since I misspent part of my youth receiving philosophical training. Even with my advanced degree and interest in the subject matter, it is difficult to stay completely informed about every facet of philosophy in general or ethics in particular. I’m not the last word on much anything, so far as I know. However, I am well versed in the basics and have an adequate grasp on things ethical. I’m not far off the mark when I offer commentary that would be accepted by people who “practice” (if that is what it is called!) ethics every day.

So it may come as a surprise when I tell you that I don’t like ethics. Or rather, I don’t like discussing ethics with people who aren’t philosophers, and even then, the discussion usually isn’t much better.

There are many reasons for my reticence about discussing ethics: 1) the routine conflation between normative and applied ethics (the difference between what should be the case and how ethical rules actually work in the real world) leads any discussion nowhere quickly, 2) the typical lay perspective that what one believes to be “right” or “good” is opinion (that “murder is always wrong” does not seem to be merely an opinion) or 3) the converse- what one believes to be “right” or “good” is fact, regardless of whether the moral judgment in question is something everyone can agree upon. Lastly, 4) trying to take what is a dense and very long running discussion and distilling it into a short format for discussion with people who aren’t privy to the larger history of ethical thought is a very frustrating exercise. The amount of backfilling required for some interesting discussions is usually more than what people are ordinarily interested in doing, at least at the level at which I am interested in discussing. It’s a large disconnect and so I just wonder about these things to myself and do not trouble the world with what I think, which I happen to know doesn’t bother the world at all.

Continue reading “Contest Ethics and The Puritanical Dream”