Field Day 2013

This Summer, I had quite a bit of fun at Field Day 2013. I joined the Saginaw Valley Amateur Radio Association for their Field Day outing. Running a Kenwood TS-520S I recently picked up, along with the matching AT-230 tuner, I strung up a G5RV antenna in some nearby trees (with help form the club). It was the first time since I got on the air with the rig since I bought it.

Field Day 2013

From 1800UTC to 0200UTC I made a total of 12 contacts, ranging in from New England to Texas, and everywhere in between. It was a great time and really got my feet wet in the world of HF.

Time (UTC) Station Frequency (MHz) Mode Location
19:11 W4RAT 14.300 USB Virginia
19:35 N0FUK 14.275 USB Iowa
19:37 W1CUM 14.320 USB New Hampshire
21:04 K4OO 14.290 USB North Carolina
23:30 K4PMH 14.290 USB Virginia
23:35 WB4ZPI 14.343 USB Alabama
23:38 WE1CT 14.275 USB ——
23:44 W5WB 14.320 USB Texas
23:50 W5CCW 14.330 USB ——
00:39 AC8IE 14.309 USB Ohio
00:58 WC9AR 14.231 USB Indiana
01:23 N5TT 14.300 USB Texas

Some Good HAM Exam Prep Resources

If you’re like me, you like to run through practice questions to prepare for tests. Here is a short list of resources I’ve used, and recommend.

 

Web: http://hamexam.org/

A simple site that just runs you through test questions. Definitely a great free resource.

 

Android: Amateur Radio Exams 1.0 Pro

Aside from the $2 price tag, and slightly humorous contradiction in the name, this is a pretty rock solid little app. It has numerous useful test modes, including: random, previously unanswered, previously incorrect, and all questions test modes. It also remembers where you last left off and offers an option to resume from that point. The real selling point of this app, though it’s not terribly unique, is that you can study anywhere without fumbling through your phone’s browser.

 

iPhone: Unknown

I don’t own an iPhone, but I’ll be happy to take app recommendations and post them here. Feel free to email me at deseehc@kcabdeef-off.com if you know of a particularly useful app.

Off To The Races!

Back in March, I volunteered for three events: the Keweenaw Winter TSD Rally, The Copper Dog 150, and the Great Bear Chase.

The TSD Rally was a blast, i got to ride all over the the Copper Country with Jack Swift N8WAV, one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. Leaving Houghton late in the morning we sped across the western UP setting up and running check points throughout the course. Being a TSD rally the racers weren’t driving full speed, so we could take shortcuts from  checkpoint to checkpoint with a little time to spare and set them up before the racers would arrive. In Jack’s own words “the job was a lot of hurry up and wait.” Although, when the racers would cross the check points it was a mad dash to to take down times and pass out tickets as each car crossed; and alot of them were very close together. After about five hours or so we were back in Houghton enjoying dinner at the North Shore Grill and passing out awards.

Two weeks later I volunteered with net control at the Copper Dog 150, this was by far the most fun I have had in HAM radio yet, I got to work with Bill KD8JAM and Howard KD8ABP, who were very helpful in teaching me the ins and outs of acting as a net control operator, and a lot of really useful general HAM info as well.

The Copper Dog 150 is a three day dog sled race. On day one the sleds left from downtown Calumet and raced up to Eagle Harbor. On day two, they raced up to Copper Harbor; and on day three back to Calumet. Day one I was mainly observing, although I did get to make a run out to a checkpoint in Laurium, where reception was low, to assist with radio communication. As day one drew to a close and the sleds made their way into Eagle Harbor, one team stalled out 2 miles from town. This kept a small handful of volunteers in the field (including a good friend of mine, KD8OXB) up until a little after 3am. On day two I actually got to work net control all day with KD8JAM. Day three I helped track the race official car locations. Both day two and day three ran smoothly with a couple small hiccups here and there.  In the end it was bib #23, JR Anderson, and his team that took First place, a first for him and his team. Congrats.

A week after that  I volunteered as a field radio operator in the Great Bear Chase, a cross country skiing race. This was the most uneventful of the three races I helped with that month. I mainly worked at checkpoint as a HAM operator and providing refreshments to the racers, nothing noteworthy happened related to radio operations.

All in all, Volunteering was pretty fun, and something I look forward to continue in the future.

A First Taste of DXing

Over the past couple week I’ve been reading a lot of all over the web about all the fun things to do in HAM Radio: DXing, satellites communications, antenna construction, moon bounce, etc. One thing I latched onto was Amsat, I spent a lot of time on their website. After downloading some satellite tracking software I headed up to the Ham Shack with the anticipation of picking up a beacon from something overhead.  To my dismay the only VHF/UHF radio that was capable had a misaligned antenna, and I didn’t end up hearing anything from space. But I did pick up some DXers on 20-meters, while playing with HF transceiver. To my amazement I was able to pick up signals from Tennessee, Florida, and Arizona. Being only a Technician Class Operator I could not legally attempt to make contact. But it did light a fire under me to get studying for the next HAM Exam.