SOTA Weekend Activation – September 20, 2014

by  Brad WA6MM

SOTA = Summits on the Air (Click Here)

This past weekend included (2) new SOTA Activations Parnassus Mountain (13er Clear Creek County) and Bard Peak (another 13er Northwest of Silver Plume).

From Brad’s Notes on his September 20th 2014 – Activation…

Hi Guys,

Had a great day yesterday activating both Parnassus Mt and Bard Peak for SOTA.  There was little wind and it gave me a chance to work out the logistics of using my new 2M Tape Measure Yagi. I’ve attached a picture of my set up on Bard @ 13,641 ft.  The other picture shows how I fold it up for travel with my pack.  Special thanks to Bob KI0G for getting me started with the Tape Measure/Yagi design!

The antenna worked great, but I mainly worked guys out to the east and one guy near Mt Evans.  I pointed the antenna west towards Glenwood Springs/Vail around 1700 UTC but was not able to make any contacts.  I guy came back to me from Castle Rock (east) though!  He still heard me off the backside of my Yagi.  I rotated the antenna towards him and his signal went from 1/3 to full-scale on my s-meter.  I also tried pointing it towards Wyoming as I usually am able to work guys there….but alas nothing this time.

Thanks for the encouragement to build a better antenna system.   BTW, Phil N0KE… I did use the “tiger tail” when I was using my 1/2W telescoping whip.  I didn’t do any A/B testing with it though since I was anxious to get the Yagi set up.  I’ll do more testing next time.

 

Until the next time…73!

If you’d like to contact Brad and learn more about his Mountaineering and SOTA activations you can reach Brad via email –   wa6mm-at-comcast-dot-net

Brad  WA6MM

ARRL Field Day 2014 – SCARC style!

by  N0ECT

The Sights and Scenes of operating from Field Day 2014 – from the Ski Country Amateur Radio Club’s QTH at the base of Mt. Sopris in Colorado.  (Click ON) the photos to enlarge them!

SCARC President Bob (K9MWM) explaining the fine points of working Satellites – using the appropriate amount of Duct Tape at your QTH

Working Satellites?  This man Eric K0JEG – is the voice the Astronauts aboard the International Space Station – got to Hear!  SCARC’s first confirmed Field Day QSO with the folks on board the ISS!  Good Work Eric!  How much Duct Tape did you use?Liam (KD0HDF) – ARRL’s Mountain Division Scholarship Winner – “Look, Ma!  I didn’t need a Baofeng nor a fancy Camera – to do it!”

Stan KR7C and Christine K0ALT – working the CW Station during Field Day – Dit, Dah, Dit Dah.

Also representing the folks who prefer NOT to talk while operating HF is Prentice K0VXP (center) and Ashton KQ0C (top) working the Digital Station on Field Day.  Prentice says…don’t even think about coming into my tent to operate Digital – unless you’re wearing your Hat!  A nice mustache is welcomed too!

CW?  Digital?  Say What?  Nobody knows how to “operate” a copy of the Post Independent newspaper better than – Bill N0MID!

Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia?  Wherever your EchoLink works and the Beer is enjoyed by K9MWM – Unmistakable Sue N0DBY – doesn’t go anywhere without her trusty – iPad.

More Sights and Sounds of Field Day 2014 – from the folks of the Ski Country Amateur Radio Club!

Field Day 2014 – Ski Country Amateur Radio Style VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

FCC – Says "OK" to TDMA Emissions

by  Tony NA0US and Jeff K0RM

The FCC released Report and Order 14-74 yesterday (6/9/2014) that made changes to the Amateur Radio Service rules (Part 97).  The changes are summarized as follows:

1. Partial credit will be given for expired licenses.   The FCC will permit Volunteer Examiners to give credit for Elements 3 and 4 (commonly referred to as the General and Extra exams) for certain expired licenses but require applicants with an expired license to re-test Element 2 (Technician) to ensure concerns about an applicants lost proficiency and knowledge are addressed.

2. Allow Remote VE Testing.  The FCC has approved the ability of VE the option of conducting VE test sessions remotely.  VECs are not mandated to conduct such testing and the commission has left to the VECs the decision of determining the conditions and process for conducting such remote testing ensuring that such test sessions comply with the Commissions rules.

3. Emission Types.  The FCC has amended its rules to authorize certain single slot TDMA emissions.  This rule replaces a temporary waiver permitting DMR/TRBO emissions in the Amateur Service.

There was a proposal to reduce the number of VEs needed to administer tests.   The FCC declined to reduce the number of VEs currently needed to administer Amateur Radio tests from three to two.  There was also a proposal to shorten the two year grace period after the expiration of a vanity call (to permit it to become available more quickly) but the commission also declined this proposal.

To read the entire report and order, (Click Here)

ARRL Field Day 2014 – June 26, 27, 28

by Bob  K9MWM

SKI COUNTRY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

FIELD DAY – K0RV

JUNE 27 – 29, 2014 (Fri, Sat & Sun)

Last minute updates: www.k0rv.org or https://k0rv.wordpress.com

PLEASE BRING FIRE EXTINGUISHERS TO FIELD DAY

NO OPEN FIRES ALLOWED

Talk-in 146.88 –600 PL 107.2

Field Day 2014 – is the last weekend in June.

Antenna Setup and site setup (generators, camping) begins at 3PM on Friday, June 26th on our traditional SCARC Field Day site.

Field Day Operating starts on Saturday, Noon (Mountain Time) and runs for 24 hours till noon on Sunday the 28th.

This year we will again be networking our logging computers with N1MM contest logging software (Click Here). Pete (N0ECT) and Eric (K0JEG) met with some success last year connecting all Operating station computers via WiFi!  It works!  Ask them at Field Day how it works. Eric actually designed a Raspberry Pi project to use the GPS time signal to sync all our networked computers to the second (probably less). You have to see this board. Phil (N0KE) and Stan (KR7C) will be setting up the CW (Morse code) station. Ash (KQ0C) will bring up the GOTA station. This is for beginners only and those without a license. This will also be used as the 3^rd station. Prentice (K0VXP) will set up the digital station. I’ll (K9MWM) be setting up the SSB station. Bob (KI0G) will get the satellite contact worth 100 points – right Bob? A drawing will be held for FD shirts, hats & pins, if you help with Antenna/Site setup Friday…Bring the family. The kids will have a great time. The 360 degree view is astounding and Mt. Sopris is our backdrop.

SCARC Field Day – 2013 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Our goal is to get everyone to operate. We will help newcomers. You can attend for an hour or 3 days. It is up to you. We have 20 acres for camping. You are responsible for your own camping gear, food, and clothing. We will plan to have a potluck dinner Saturday evening at 6 PM. Please bring a dish to share. Sunny days can be hot…the nights are cool if clear at 7800 feet. A jacket or fleece will keep you warm.  It takes a couple hours to take down and pack the equipment. We should be on the road by 2 PM Sunday at the latest. We have separated our operations area and camping areas. Please follow the signs to the designated area to set up your camp. NO OPEN FIRES are allowed. Bring along a fire extinguisher if you have one. Gas camp stoves are OK. Bring some shade – no trees in the area. 12×12 canopies will work with tie downs. So, come on out and participate in a nation-wide emergency preparedness operation (a.k.a. Field Day). VEC Tests will be given any time over the 3 day period. Talk-in frequencies for our linked repeaters are 146.88, 146.67, 146.61(–600 PL 107.2), the Anvil Points repeater 147.15 (+600 PL-107.2) or the Aspen system 146.58 simplex (PL 107.2).If you have any questions call me at after Monday Jun 23^rd at 970-945-8722 or 970-379-1731. You will have fun!   See you there!  Bob  K9MWM

EchoLink at 37,000 feet

by  N0ECT

How’d they do that?

On a recent direct flight from KDEN to KIAD I had the chance to spend $8.00 while on the flight.  Since I had a couple of SouthWest Airlines (free) drink coupons…I decided to invest my beer habit savings…trying out the onboard WiFi seated comfortably in the Emergency Row high over (one of those flat flyover States) in the Mid-West.

EchoLink has long been installed on my iPhone 5, so after hitting the flight’s web login page – where Southwest charges your credit card $8.00 – I was quickly connected to the inflight cabin WiFi somewhere around 37,000 feet using my iPhone.

The iPhone’s EchoLink app quickly connected to our SCARC EchoLink node in Glenwood Springs, Colorado and it worked perfectly, with EchoLink’s usual and very acceptable audio quality.  From EchoLink I called Phil N0KE who was using his usual 2meter radio (146.88Mhz) who advised me that my EchoLink voice sounds just like it usually does.  Bob KI0G was also listening on EchoLink at the same time and had trouble breaking in on our conversation – so KI0G used EchoLink’s “text” feature to send me a text message asking us to let Bob join the audio conversation.  I didn’t know EchoLink had this texting feature till KI0G used it…

Now comes the Interesting part…how does all this EchoLink/WiFi work from inside a Commercial aircraft?

The answer is: Row 44.

While on the flight I used a trick from my iPhone to find just who was behind the inflight WiFi.  The trick was using another iPhone app that exposed the other devices using WiFi on the same flight and more importantly what the TCP/IP address scheme was…that everyone was using.

Bingo.  The subnet was 184.169.5.xxx which is a subnet assigned by ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers)  It turns out a company called Row44.com is assigned that block of TCP/IP Address.  That’s the ticket….pardon the pun.

I found it interesting that Row44 was assigning Public IP addresses and not private IP address like 10.0.0.0 while using their onboard WiFi.  Row44 also allows their commercial Airline customers (Southwest, Allegiant Air, Icelandair et al) to “brand” their WiFi service so it looks to their Passengers like it’s actually (example: Southwest) providing the WiFi Internet service.

Why did EchoLink work so well from that flight?

The answer in part is…because of how EchoLink works over the Internet.  EchoLink voice traffic uses an Internet protocol called (UDP) to move the Voice data packets from one place to another.  (Oversimplified) it’s an Internet protocol that doesn’t “check” to see if a data packet actually made it to its destination.  In other words no “error correction”.  It doesn’t know and doesn’t care if data packets actually get to where they’re going.    Why?

Ever notice when you’re watching (say) satellite TV…and suddenly the picture gets “all pixelly” and breaks up for a couple of seconds?  Well more than likely the UDP data packet STREAM that makes up your TV picture lost a few data packets…and usually the TV picture comes back and streams smoothly again.  In this Streaming type of data…protocol “error correction” offers no real benefit.  EchoLink users can do their own “error correction” by simply saying “I didn’t copy, please repeat”…should any UDP audio packets be lost in either Radio transmit/receive direction.

For it’s part – EchoLink uses UDP Ports (5198 and 5199) to move Voice data packets.

Interestingly the Row44 WiFi/Satellite system advertises 11 Megabits per second of TCP/IP and 28 Megabits of UDP Bandwidth – accommodating almost 3 times as much UDP bandwidth and data than TCP/IP!   So, depending on any Amateur Radio operators Internet Bandwidth he/she has in their Radio Shack back home…chances are…EchoLink may actually operate better at 37,000 feet because of all that 28 Megabits of UDP bandwidth.  By comparison my home office Comcast Business class Internet service typically runs at about 4 Megabits “upstream” on any given day.

Additional inflight WiFi Services…

Row44 also offers the STREAMING of Movies on flights if the Airlines decide they want to offer that inflight service to their passengers.  Satellite TV provider DISH is also getting in on this new inflight service offering some of their Streaming content too…via the Row44 Satellite hardware that is installed in many aircraft today.  Hence the need for all that additional UDP bandwidth with different passengers all Streaming different movies…all at the same time on the same flight.

The amusing part?  Well besides getting funny looks from Airline passengers seated next to you…while operating on 2 meters, via EchoLink from your SmartPhone…you can also take some (satisfaction?) you’re also operating Voice on Row44’s assigned portion of the Satellite Ku Band (12-18Ghz) while in flight…and you’re not even putting your FCC Amateur Radio license at risk.

Up Next?  I believe it’s time to ask Phil N0KE to write the next Blog Post on operating CW/WiFi from 37,000 feet while Phil is flying to his favorite Caribbean QTH, (PJ2T on Curacao)

By for now        –… …–        N0ECT

What the Flux – is Up?

by  N0KE

Topic:  Current HF Band Conditions – week of May 10th 2014

HF conditions have improved a bunch the past two to three days with solar flux up 20 points to 148 (and improving) so HF conditions and hopefully (6meters/50Mhz) have improved.

Lots of people have mentioned to me they never hear anything on 6 meters.  So N0ECT and KQ0C told me…to tell ’em to put down their Baofeng’s and stop racing their 6 meters on starboard tack…and get back into their Radio Shack!  but I digress…

Most people in the general area with a decent antenna should be able to hear the 50watt K0EC/B 6m beacon at 11,250 feet at the top of Vail’s China Bowl it transmits 24/7 on CW at 50.067Mhz. Even if you cannot copy CW and you hear CW on 50.067, it is most likely the Vail beacon!

A few suggestions going forward. If you are in your Radio Shack doing something besides making QSOs, set your rig to 50.125Mhz-USB (using a USB if you know how) while you do whatever other task you’re working on. You’ll hear bits and pieces of voices pop in and out every now and then, particularly in the mornings when Meteors are the most frequent and you’re probably hearing Meteor scatter. Also check what is spotted on 6m. If you see the K0EC/B spotted in DM69 not long ago, turn on your rig. If no one is on 50.125 try a few CQs as that is the 6m calling frequency. Once you determine the band is open, move somewhere above 50.125 to CQ and work stations. Every now and then I’ll CQ on 50.125 and announce that I’m listening on another frequency like 132 or 147 or 155 etc. This is a good place to use the A/B VFO switch on your HF Rig. There is a lot of CW activity on 6m and it is mostly below 50.100.

The 6m DX calling frequency is 50.110 for SSB or CW.

The DX window for working stations outside the lower 48 or lower tier Canada is 50.100 to 50.123.

DO NOT WORK US/VE IN THE DX WINDOW!

This Saturday evening (May 10^th 2014) from 2300Z to 0300Z (5pm MDT to 9pm MDT is the annual ARRL 6m SPRINT and you don’t need to know the difference between an HF Rig and a 6 meters’s Rigging to participate.

Exchange is grid square (first 4 ie DM69) and call. Most of you in SCARC territory are in DM69 but DM59 begins about half way between Parachute and Rulison, Colorado and goes west into Utah. Activity is mostly on SSB but there may also be some CW activity on 6m below 50.100 if things open up.

This is the beginning of the (annual summer) Sporadic E season when we get more ionization in the E layer up about 50-60 miles which give some intense short skip out to about 1500 miles. 10m also benefits from E skip and 10 will open before 6 so if you hear short strong skip on 10, give 6m a listen. Occasionally the MUF will get to 2m and even more rarely to 222MHz. You can also get double Hop E skip to the east coast and even more hops to Europe or Japan. One station in Oregon has already worked Japan this season as of a few days ago and one in Missouri made the first USA to Europe QSO of the summer E season yesterday.

At 2200Z Friday, May 9th 2014, K0GU near Greeley, Co. reported working several stations from CE (Chile) on 6m. This is an event that could likely reoccur around the same time of day in the near future.

Good luck and hope to hear some of you Saturday.

– Ahoy there! and 73’s –  Phil N0KE DM69 near Silt, Colorado

What Happened at Visalia 2014?

by  N0KE

Visalia is a city in California, located about 190 miles north of L.A. in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley.

It’s also the home of annual International DX Convention now in its 65th year (Click Here)  SCARC members – Larry K0CL, Bill K0UK, Gerry K0DU and Phil N0KE were at this years April 4th-6th Convention in Visalia.

Sponsorship of this event is shared in alternating years by the Southern California DX Club and the Northern California DX Club.

Folks from all over the world attend this Convention to meet old and new friends and find out what’s new in uber-long distance HF RadioSport during the Conventions various seminars.  Visalia also serves as a kind of (warm up?) for the Dayton, Ohio Convention (May 16th – 18th) – the biggest annual Amateur Radio Convention in North America (Click Here).

For a look a more Visalia DX Convention 2014 photos – (Click Here).  Special thanks to Art K6XT (Grand Mesa Contesters) for the web link to his Convention photos!

HF Band Conditions – Best in Years – Now, Sunday, March 9th 2014

by  N0KE

PM, Sunday, March 9th 2014.

It’s time to fire up that HF Rig of yours…

When I say working the Stans on HF, I’m not talking about working guys named Stan on 2m FM Repeaters! I’m talking about working countries in deep Asia whose names end with STAN like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and many more that outside of Jeopardy competitors and hams and geography experts few know much about.

This is done using a radio with no link thru the Internet, it is radio to radio.  Photo below – N0KE’s QTH in Silt, Colorado.

The past two evenings we have had some of the best propagation I’ve seen in years to these areas and many more like JT1BV in Ulaan Bator, Mongolia, India and very remote areas of Siberia etc. It is fairly common to get openings on 20m to some of these places but not to have it go all the way to 10m with good signals even from low power stations with modest antennas has not happened much in recent years. This has involved 10m , 12m, 15m 17m and 20m and maybe even 30m got in the act in the past two days. Stations were active on CW, SSB, RTTY, PSK and JT65 and lots of them. This propagation often happens as we near the solstice and I have no clue why then! It usually starts near dark and goes up to midnight or longer. There is a secondary opening 12 hours later in our AM and their PM. Stations often have a fluttery auroral or echo sound to them. I can’t guarantee it will happen again tonight or any other night but it worth while to pay attention to spots or turn on the receiver and turn the big knob that changes the frequency. I suggest starting as it gets close to dark and also near sunrise in the AM. After this peak in the sunspot cycle we are no enjoying, the long range outlook for conditions in the next 30 to 40 years on the higher bands may never get close to what is going on right now in this cycle for bands like 12 and

10 meters and maybe even 15 and 17 as well.

Many of these stations are so strong that they can easily be worked with QRP or low power and modest antennas. Do not hold back calling a station because their signal is on the light side as it could be a guy in one of the Stans or remote Siberia running QRP himself.  Photo below (L-R  Ashton KQ0C and Phil N0KE)  operating from Ashton’s HF Contest Cabin outside Silt, Colorado

73 and best of DX

Phil N0KE    (grid)  DM69em

3:10 to Yuma – K0VK Style

by the fans of   Glenn Ford, Van Heflin, Russell Crowe and Christian Bale

2014 Yuma, Arizona Hamfest – February 14-15th 2014
Prize Winners:
On Saturday, the main day of the hamfest, there were drawings every hour throughout the day. These winners had to be present to win. We drew for 63 door prizes, of which 57 were claimed. On Saturday night, following the Buzzard BBQ, 37 more door prizes were given away as a result of just attending the Yuma Hamfest BBQ. Nobody gives away as many prizes as the Yuma Hamfest. Nobody!  (Click Here) for the complete list of Yuma Hamfest Winners!

Other cool stuff at the 2014 Yuma Ham Fest?  Check out the Near Space Balloon Launch (Click Here) – Balloon Payloads consisted of Fast Scan Amateur Television (FSTV), a still camera, a cross-band repeater, a Qualcomm WIFI experiment, and two APRS beacons.

N0ECT recommends you have SCARC member Fred K0VK buy you your next Lottery Ticket.  Somehow – Fred managed to win twice…at the Yuma Hamfest!!!

Now you know why Fred travels in an RV.  He needs the room for all those Yuma Hamfest Prizes…(PS – Fred don’t forget to mail Larry K0CL – with your 2014 SCARC dues!)

Eleventh Prize: Kenwood TM-V71A
Winner: Fred Scully (K0VK), Woody Creek, Colorado

Fred is from Colorado but is a regular in the Yuma area during the winter, when he likes to dry camp in a small motorhome. He is also a dirt biker. Fred holds an extra class license.

Fourteenth Prize: Yaesu FT1DRS
Winner: Fred Scully (K0VK), Woody Creek, Colorado

Didn’t we mention this guy already? Fred has won some of our grand prizes at prior Hamfests in Yuma. And he won twice in 2014, also winning a Yaesu FT1DRS digital handheld. We’re considering making him sit in the theater building where people can just touch him for good luck.