TWIAR News Feed

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A Yagi and a ham (Idaho)

Posted: 01 Feb 2017 07:56 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2k1cqJ9

Talking to someone on the other side of the country, without using a
telephone, is possible if you’re a ham who knows how to aim a Yagi antennae.
Ham is a nickname for a licensed amateur radio operator. In Clearwater
County, local hams gather once a month as members of the Clearwater Valley
Amateur Radio Club (CVARC).
The agenda of meetings varies from club to club—there are many amateur
radio clubs across the world—but they often include lessons in ways hams
can use their amateur radios to do amazing things, such as call the
International Space Station.

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When all else fails: LLH hosts amateur radio enthusiasts (North Carolina)

Posted: 01 Feb 2017 07:55 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2jXw86o

Imagine for a moment that a natural disaster has struck in Avery County.
Electricity is out, communications towers are down or jammed and cell
phones are as useful as a paperweight. When such catastrophe strikes,
communication becomes a precious commodity.
In situations such as these, amateur (ham) radio operators spring into
action. Utilizing homemade antennae, generators and portable radio
transceivers, ham radio operators can have emergency communications up and
running, in any location, in a very short amount of time.
When all other means of communication fail, ham radio serves as the most
reliable backup network in the United States.

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Lost During Ganga Sagar Mela: HAM radio operators help unite Bihar family
(India)

Posted: 01 Feb 2017 07:54 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2kuvmRi

Lost and with no way to go home, Satyaram Paswan (65) woke up at Diamond
Harbour hospital with no familiar face nearby. His family, long since
assuming he was “lost� at the Ganga Sagar Mela, had returned to their
native Hazipur in Bihar. The district administration and police turned to
amateur radio operators for help. Within 48 hours, Paswan was reunited with
his family, giving the government a possible way to handle the many missing
cases at the mela every year.
“We thought he had gotten lost or was dead. He can’t speak Bangla or Hindi,
so it was impossible to communicate with doctors. Somehow, he has come back
to us. This is nothing short of a miracle,� Satyaram’s son, Pradip Paswan,
told The Indian Express.

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Another Outstanding Year for Amateur Radio Licensing!

Posted: 01 Feb 2017 08:36 PM PST
http://ift.tt/2jXLiuA

Last year — 2016 — was another outstanding one for Amateur Radio licensing.
So says ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) Manager Maria Somma,
AB1FM.

“New Amateur Radio licenses issued were up by 1% over 2015, and this is the
third year in a row that the total number of new licenses has exceeded
30,000,� Somma reported. She said 32,552 were granted in 2016, 32,077 in
2015, and 33,241 in 2014.

Somma said that while 2014 was a record-setting year for new licenses
issued, ARRL VEC “continues to see an elevated interest in obtaining an
Amateur Radio license.�

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via HACKADAY: Everyone Should Build At Least One Regenerative Radio Receiver

Posted: 01 Feb 2017 07:49 PM PST
http://ift.tt/2kVpNbp

When we build an electronic project in 2016, the chances are that the
active components will be integrated circuits containing an extremely large
amount of functionality in a small space. Where once we might have used an
op-amp or two, a 555 timer, or a logic gate, it’s ever more common to use a
microcontroller or even an IC that though it presents an analog face to the
world does all its internal work in the digital domain.

There was a time when active components such as tubes or transistors were
likely to be significantly expensive, and integrated circuits, if they even
existed, were out of the reach of most constructors. In those days people
still used electronics to do a lot of the same jobs we do today, but they
relied on extremely clever circuitry rather than the brute force of a
do-anything super-component. It was not uncommon to see circuits with only
a few transistors or tubes that exploited all the capabilities of the
devices to deliver something well beyond that which you might expect

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Transcontinental Relay Recreated for 100th Anniversary Commemoration

Posted: 01 Feb 2017 07:36 PM PST
http://ift.tt/2jzRu8B

A cross-country, station-hopping relay this month recreated the January 27,
1917, route of the first formal Amateur Radio transcontinental message
traffic bound for ARRL Headquarters. This method of traffic handling is in
the DNA of the then-nascent national organization for Amateur Radio’s name
— American Radio Relay League. Kent Trimble, K9ZTV, organized the January
27 commemoration, in which a message originating at W6UE, the Cal Tech club
station in Los Angeles, hopped to K8ZTT in Denver; to W9ABD in Jefferson
City, Missouri; to KT2D in Albany, New York, and finally to W1AW. The
message was addressed to ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF. The commemorative
event chose 160 meters, as it was the band closest to the 200-meter
wavelength used for the original accomplishment.

“The spirits of 6EA 9ZF 9ABD 2AGJ and 1ZM send commemorative greetings on
the 100th anniversary of first transcontinental relay of formal message
traffic 73,� read the message, which, for a signature, included the call
signs and locations of the stations involved in the relay.

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via HACKADAY: Early Electromechanical Circuits

Posted: 01 Feb 2017 07:36 PM PST
http://ift.tt/2kS48VD

The circuit shown below is a fun one, especially if you’ve played with
crystal radios. It receives Morse code that’s transmitted as bursts of
radio waves at a specific frequency. The transmission back then was done
using a spark gap transmitter. A dot is a short period of transmission at
that frequency and a dash is a longer period of transmission. In between
the dots and dashes, nothing is transmitted. This circuit decodes those
dots and dashes and records them as indents tapped onto a paper tape. A dot
results in one, or only a few indents, and a dash results in more indents.
The tape is moved at a constant rate, and so the dots and dashes are spaced
out by lengths of tape with no indents.

Across the top is the antenna. The wire descending from the antenna goes to
the parallel LC resonant circuit consisting of a coil and a variable
capacitor, CV. Together they tune in to the desired frequency. To the right
and in parallel with that are coherer A and relay R.

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Copperas Cove: Local ham radio operators practice for emergencies (Texas)

Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:47 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2jxes0e

The Copperas Cove Repeater Association teamed up with city emergency
management to brush up on their communication skills at the National
Amateur Radio Winter Field Day Saturday afternoon.

At a Copperas Cove fire station, residents are learned what it’s like to
communicate through ham radio over a 24 hour period.

"It’s an opportunity for them to come into our facility, set up their
equipment and pretend that we have a disaster where we need their
communication support,� Emergency Management Coordinator, Deputy Chief Gary
Young said.

Their goal is to communicate with as many contacts as possible. But Bruce
Coons doesn’t need a semi-annual event to keep his skills fresh.

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Lehi CERT puts focus on ham radios with weekly practice (Utah)

Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:47 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2jPxjop

Every Wednesday at 8 p.m., Lehi resident Jeff McGrath uses his ham radio to
call out to other residents, Community Emergency Response Team members and
community members as part of the Lehi Preparedness Net.

“Calling the Lehi Area Preparedness Net, Calling the Lehi Area Preparedness
Net. This is net control station November-One-Sierra-Charlie and my name is
Jeff McGrath,� he announces.

As he goes through his script, taking check-ins and making announcements,
he and the other participants practice how to use their ham radios and
interact with each other.

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Whats the frequency, Shuey? Third generation Coast Guardsman keeps
communications afloat in the Mid-Atlantic

Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:47 PM PST
http://bit.ly/2jNFfsk

“Have you seen Shuey?� “Somebody call Shuey.� “Better check with Shuey!� An
hour in the downtown Portsmouth, Virginia, Federal Building rarely passes
without someone seeking him out. As scores of Coast Guard leaders in the
office building plan and prepare their people for missions in the
Mid-Atlantic region and beyond, the toils of Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st
Class William Shuey Jr., is like a network of welds running through their
ship, holding everything together.

“Petty Officer Shuey is an unsung hero,� said Capt. Gregory Sanial, chief
of staff, 5th Coast Guard District. “Without his positive attitude and
technical expertise, our network of phones and computers would come to a
grinding halt.�