NJ2X

Auld Lang Syne
by Robert Burns, 1788

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
... ... And auld lang syne!

Chorus
For auld lang syne, my dear, 
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint stowp!
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
Sin’ auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.




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Happy New Year!


Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Here is a handy reference to radio related standards organizations around the world.  One of the best things about standards is that there are so many of them.  All kidding aside, there is a wealth of information to be found via these links.


Australia Britain
Canada
China
France
International
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)IEEEISOJapan
Malaysia
New Zealand
Singapore
United States
ANSIElectrostatic Discharge AssociationFCC Office of Engineering and Technology - RF safetyNEMA -National Electrical Manufacturers AssociationNational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standards Services Division Telecommunications Industry Association - Project 25United States Geological Survey - Geological Hazards TeamUnited States Geological Survey - Earthquake Hazards Program

This is a very well done edition of the show, "How It's Made" featuring an up close and personal look at the construction of modern audio vacuum tubes.  This video runs about 5 minutes.



Be sure to check out related articles: 1948 Film: Vacuum Tube Manufacturing Westinghouse Film - Electronics At Work - Electronic Tubes Explained Radio Teletypewriter AN/GRC-46 (RTTY)WWII Film - Hallicrafters: Voice of Victory - SCR-299US Army Signal Corps training film for the SCR-694, BC-1306 field radio1944 US Navy Training Film - Radio Operator Training - Technique Of Hand Sending CW with a straight keyArmy Morse Code Training Film 1966

The ARRL has produced an excellent video called, "The DIY Magic of Amateur Radio".  The video is aimed at the Do It Yourself community.  The ubiquity of wireless technology in communications, computer, hacker, robotics, and other technology applications means amateur radio has a lot to offer to a broad spectrum of technically minded people.

This video runs about 8 minutes and would be an excellent video to show at your club's next meeting.  It would also make a nice video to loop for public viewing at an event.  You can download the high def 16:9 version directly from the ARRL

As a licensed amateur radio operator and citizen of the United States, you may operate in Canada as a domestically licensed station without the requirement of obtaining any license or permission from the Canadian government.
An American amateur may allow third party use of his station and call sign, carry international third party traffic, serve as a temporary control operator for a repeater station, and identify themselves as a domestic station using the national call sign system, provided:
The Licensee has citizenship and a valid amateur radio license from the country for their residency;The Licensee appends the local Canadian Zone(Region) to the END of their call sign when identifying their station (e.g. KC2XXX/VE3); and,The Licensee adheres to the Canada operating powers, frequency (band) allocations, and laws. US amateurs operating in Canada must abide by Industry Canada RBR-4 rules.
- A US amateur who is qualified to send and receive in Morse code at a speed of at least 5 wpm may…

The thoughtful radio amateur is:
Responsible - using courteous operating practice, complying with regulations and accepted technical standards;

Progressive - striving to develop and improve operating and technical skills;

Helpful - offering assistance, support and encouragement to other Amateurs, especially beginners; and

Public Spirited - offering use of station, knowledge and skills as a public service whenever possible.

Text by Bill Wilson, VE3NR (SK 2010)
The Canadian Amateur 1997 12



Related article: The Amateur's Code

A DAY OF EDUCATION TO SHARE IDEAS, EXPERIENCES, KNOWLEDGE, AND FELLOWSHIP AMONG AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS
January 8, 2011
Briarcliffe College
 1055 Stewart Ave
 Bethpage, NY 11714

Since 1999, HRU has been bringing the local ham community together for a special day of learning and fellowship.  At HRU you can attend one of many forums about Amateur Radio. You can also find out
about many different Amateur Radio organizations and clubs and even join one! You can see
a demonstration of various radio modes such as signal sideband voice, Morse Code or digital modes  our demo room. You can operate our special event station and make contact with other hams around the country or around the world. You can listen to our keynote speaker. You can take any level amateur radio license exam in our volunteer exam session.
We have been attending this excellent event since 2008.  We look forward to meeting you there.

For more information check out: http://hamradiouniversity.org/

The Ham Radio Deluxe DM780 software is unquestionably a wonderful product - large number of digital modes, powerful features, and easy to use.  Up to now the price has been right too - FREE!  There is no mystery as to why DM780 has such a strong following among hams.
One of the convenient features of DM780 is automation of the QSO with macros.  You can think of macros as an automated form letter.  This allows for quick exchanges of routine information.  There are several very good reasons for using macros in DM780 or any other similarly enabled ham radio software:
Macros relieve the burden of typing the same information over-and-over again.  No fun typing CQ CQ CQ .... over and over again.Speed up the QSO and allow the operator to multitask.Provides an assistant to people with physical disabilities which limit their use of a keyboard.Provides a structure to the QSO.Macros are very useful with the hyper-fast modes like PSK-125.  Most people simply can't type fast and accurately en…

The return of cold weather means less time in the field and more time warming the workshop with a soldering iron.  Winter 'tis the season of father and son kit building!

KC2VSR had a great time building this Velleman 3D Xmas Tree Kit.  The holiday theme really put us into the holiday spirit too.

The kit comes with a set of detailed instructions.  No issues understanding what to do.

The first thing we did was to layout the parts to make sure everything was included. We found the kit had all the parts and enough extra LED's to make the trees solid red or a combination of red, yellow, and green. KC2VSR chose to go with the multicolor design.

The parts are all through-the-hole which made soldering a breeze.

KC2VSR used this handy project vise to hold the circuit parts steady during installation and soldering.


KC2VSR demonstrating proper soldering technique - heat the part first (not the solder) and let the solder flow.  Nice work!
Voila!  The finished 3D Xmas Tree.  It worked the …

The number of criminal laws in the US has exploded in the last 50 years.  We have reached a point where it is beyond the capability of the citizenry to live free in confidence that they are also obeying the law.  There are simply too many laws and good people are being ensnared and their lives trampled.  The real tragedy is that we have traded away our freedom in exchange for the false security of being ruled by a large and powerful government.
Here they go again....

The brilliant lawyers and freedom fighters in Washington (yeah right) have come up with another way to make us all safe from ourselves.  Can you guess how?  If you answered, "more laws" then you win the golden fleece award.  Not a fair question you say?  True, they didn't come up with another way to make us safe.  Piling on the laws is the ONLY way for these people - its how they bread their butter.  When all you have is a hammer then everything looks like a nail.  Feeling a little safer and less free yet?  I…

PP34SZS2E5X8

We take "texting" for granted today as new technology; however, wireless texting has been in use since early radioteletype experiments dating back to 1922.  Radioteletype technology was put to use by the US military in 1930s and use expanded during World War II.  The US Navy called radioteletype RATT (Radio Automatic Teletype) and the Army Signal Corps called radioteletype SCRT (Single-Channel Radio Teletype).


This in an excellent 1963 Department of Defence film explaining the Radio Teletypewriter set AN/GRC-46 in terms of:
ComponentsElectronic FunctionCapabilitiesOperation The AN/GRC-46 operated on HF (1.5Mhz to 20Mhz) and employed Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) for either half-duplex or full-duplex RTTY tactical communications (up to 80km).  The radio could also be used for CW and phone operations.  One interesting feature was the ability of the operator to simultaneously transmit both RTTY and phone.  Funny to think that this was state-of-the-art for portable "texting&q…

For our portable operations, we have been using a portable rotatable HF dipole from EmComm-Products (model RADS 9-11/A) since 2008.  This antenna is rated for up to 200W UHF/VHF / 250W PEP HF.  In our setup we run no more than 50W on UHF/VHF and 100W on HF.

One particularly useful feature of the antenna is that it provides HF and a second VHF/UHF antenna on top of the dipole which is fed by a separate cable.  This allows the operator to run both a HF radio and VHF/UHF radio concurrently on one mast.

The mast is sectional fiberglass, guyed, and goes up very easily with two people (takes about 15 minutes).  The Velcro cable ties used to neatly store the cable double as ties between the mast and cable.

To rotate the antenna we simply give the mast a twist.  This is usually enough to cause the dipole to turn in the in the desired direction.  We have also used a light line tied to one end of the dipole to guide the rotation.

The dipole sections can be changed out and manually "tuned&q…

The ARRL 10 Meter Contest is the second full weekend of December.  Starts 0000 UTC Saturday; runs through 2359 UTC Sunday (December 10 – 11, 2011).  This contest is sure to be a big draw since the 10 meter band has been open daily worldwide.  ARRL 10 Meter Contest Rules.

We recently encountered the latin phrase, "amici probantur rebus adversis" which is attributed to the Roman philosopher Cicero and translates to, "friends are proved by adversity".  This gave us pause and we were reminded of the corollary, "a fair weather friend changes with the wind".  Together these two sayings mean that we can judge who are our real friends (versus acquaintances) in difficult times.

Time and again radio amateurs have proved that they are indeed good friends to their communities facing adversity.  Hams provide emergency communication services to help those in need.  The Amateur Radio Service is there when all else fails.  So too are the radio amateurs.

Kudos to you friends.  We are grateful knowing you will be there when the going gets tough.

A common pattern among amateur radio operators is to have developed an interest in radio from having access to a shortwave radio.  Sadly the trend over the last decade has been a decline in the number of shortwave broadcasters.  However, there are still stations on the air and shortwave listening (SWL) has remained a wonderful way to enjoy "playing radio" and experience the "magic".

As a youth, we would simply turn on the radio and tune up and down until finding an interesting station.  It was mostly a random process.  Over time, we learned to identify stations and programs and could tune to the right place at the right time.

We still do spend time tuning up and down the bands on our Yeasu FRG-100 or Sangean ATS-909X.  We also take advantage of the power of the Internet for improving our ability to locate radio programs and identify shortwave radio stations.  An excellent SWL resource is the website short-wave.info. 

This site offers several useful tools including…

The Radio Amateur is:

CONSIDERATE...never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others.

LOYAL...offers loyalty, encouragement and support to other amateurs, local clubs, and the American Radio Relay League, through which Amateur Radio in the United States is represented nationally and internationally.

PROGRESSIVE...with knowledge abreast of science, a well-built and efficient station and operation above reproach.

FRIENDLY...slow and patient operating when required; friendly advice and counsel to the beginner; kindly assistance, cooperation and consideration for the interests of others.  These are the hallmarks of the amateur spirit.

BALANCED...radio is an avocation, never interfering with duties owned to family, job, school, or community.

PATRIOTIC...station and skill always ready for service to country and community.

-The original Amateur's Code was written by Paul M. Segal, W9EEA, in 1928

One of our favorite modes is PSK.  There is an interesting contest this weekend, "2st EPC Ukraine DX Contest."  BPSK63 is a fast mode so there will be plenty of action to keep it interesting.  Here are a few of the details:

The Ukrainian Section of the European PSK Club has the honour to invite radio amateurs from all over the world to participate in the 2st EPC Ukraine DX Contest (EPC-UKR-DX).

Rule overview
The contest will be held from 20:00 UTC on Saturday, December 3, 2011 until 19:59 UTC on Sunday, December 4, 2011. This is strictly BPSK63 contest, no other modes are allowed. The output power shall not exceed 100 watts in all categories. Category SOAB-24, SOAB-12, SOLF, SOHF, MOST. Contest call for all participants is «CQ EPCUR TEST».Ukrainian stations should send RSQ plus conventional code of the Ukrainian Administrative Region. Example - 599 UR25. Other stations should send signal report plus QSO number, starting 001. Example – 599 001. Scoring
Stations in the same DXCC…