ARRL Field Day - June 23 - 24, 2012

Its that time of year again folks - ARRL Field Day is here June 23-24, 2012!

Field Day is a contest, an emergency preparedness exercise, a public relations demonstration, a great event for clubs, and a great way to get on the air and have some fun.  The spirit of Field Day is to operate away from the shack, commercial power, under field conditions for 24 hours in June.

The objective is to work as many stations as possible on any and all amateur bands (excluding the 60, 30, 17, and 12-meter bands) and to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions.   Field Day is open to all amateurs in the areas covered by the ARRL/RAC Field Organizations and countries within IARU Region 2.  DX stations residing in other regions may be contacted for credit, but are not eligible to submit entries.    

Checkout the ARRL Field Day website for complete details.  Don't forget the sun screen, bug spray, and plenty of snacks and water.

Hope to hear you all on the air.

NJ2X



Be sure to check out our related article on NJ2X.com:
Amateur Radio Field Day Food - QSL Quiche

Visualizing Lightning

NASA maintains a cumulative visualization of global lightning strikes from January 1998 to present day from the NASA/MSFC Lightning Imaging Sensor.  This is a fascinating work and is perhaps compelling enough to motivate a few hams (especially those living in the high strike zones) to improve their station's grounding and lightning protection.

Amateur Radio Kids Day - June 16, 2012

Kids Day is an on-air event to encourage young people (licensed or not) to have fun with Amateur Radio. It is designed to give on-the-air experience to youngsters and hopefully foster interest in getting a license of their own. It is also intended to give older hams a chance to share their station and love for Amateur Radio with their children.

The traditional exchange for kids day is: name, age, location, and favorite color. Be sure to work the same station again if an operator has changed.  To draw attention, call “CQ Kids Day.”

• Saturday, June 16, 2012

Kids Day always runs from 1800 UTC through 2359 UTC. Operate as much or as little as you like.

We have enjoyed operating on kids day in year's past.  It has always been a lot of fun.  99% of the contacts have been very positive.  The best contacts have been with hams who are patient and encouraging to the youngsters (a.k.a Potential Future Hams).

We have encountered one or two not-so-patient and not-so-encouraging contacts.  These hams seemed to have not been aware of the kids day event nor understood the intent.  If you belong to an amateur radio club or net please pass the word about this year's kids day event.

Raritan Valley Radio Club Hamfest June 16, 2012

For New Jersey area hams, the Raritan Valley Radio Club Hamfest is on June 16, 2012.  Hope to see you all there.

Ab Absurdo: The Big Antenna

Ab Absurdo: The Elmer

Be sure to check out our other Amateur Humor posts.

The Dayton Hamvention 2012 Internationally Connected

Hope to see you all at The Dayton Hamvention® 2012 "Internationally Connected" event will be held on May 18-20 2012 at the Hara Arena in Dayton, OH.

Since 1952 Hamvention® has been sponsored by Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA). For many years it has been the world's largest amateur radio gathering, attracting hams from throughout the globe.

Interested in learning more about the Hamvention® experience? Check out this collection of Hamvention® resources on the internet.

LZ129 Hindenburg Disaster 75 Years Ago Today

75 years ago today (May 6, 1937 7:25 PM), the German passenger airship LZ129 Hindenburg caught fire during its attempt to dock with a mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey.  One ground crew member and 35 of the 97 people onboard lost their lives.

Herbert Morrison recorded a radio eyewitness report (36 minutes) for WLS (Chicago) which was later broadcasted the day after the tragedy.

LZ129 Hindenburg

The Dayton Hamvention® 2012 "Internationally Connected"

Mark your calendars.  The Dayton Hamvention® 2012 "Internationally Connected" event will be held on May 18-20 2012 at the Hara Arena in Dayton, OH.

Since 1952 Hamvention® has been sponsored by Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA). For many years it has been the world's largest amateur radio gathering, attracting hams from throughout the globe.

Interested in learning more about the Hamvention® experience? Check out this collection of Hamvention® resources on the internet.

FCC Amateur Radio Technician Class License

An FCC Amateur Radio Technician Class License provides privileges that include all VHF/UHF amateur bands as well as limited operations in certain HF bands (80, 40, 15m bands using CW and 10m CW, voice, and digital modes). 

Some of the activities that Technician licensees enjoy:

• Using a small 2 meter band hand-held radio to communicate with other hams in and around their local area.
• Operating with different modes such as FM voice, digital modes with computers, television, single-sideband voice, and Morse code.
• Making international radio contacts via satellites.
• Making contact with astronauts on the international space station.
• Building and using radio equipment - DIY.
• Experimenting with antennas, radios, modes, ...
• "Fox hunting" which is a sport where participants use radio direction finding equipment to locate hidden transmitters.
• Setting up a location reporting radio (APRS) which uses a radio and GPS.
• Volunteering with local emergency response organizations to provide radio communication services.
• Having access to communication and information sharing capabiltiies during times of disasters and infrastructure outages.  See our article: Prepper Essentials: Communication and Information
• Having fun on the air!

In order to obtain an FCC Amateur Radio Technician class license, you must first pass a 35-question multiple choice examination known as "Element 2".  Morse code is no longer required for any of the FCC Amateur Radio licenses.  The FCC Technician License exam covers basic regulations, operating practices and electronics theory, with a focus on VHF and UHF applications.

If you are interested in becoming involved with the great hobby of amateur radio (or ham radio) studying for and then taking the FCC Amateur Radio Technician Class License Exam is your ticket.  The ARRL offers many excellent resources for those interested in the hobby.  The hobby is seeing record high numbers of license holders.

NJ2X.com posts a free "FCC Technician Exam Question Of The Day" every day to help people learn about the test questions, test answers, and get ready to earn their ticket.  If you know of someone studying for the exam be sure to share our link with them.


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By Michael Maher (NJ2X)

© Michael W. Maher and NJ2X.COM, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Michael W. Maher and NJ2X.COM with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Ten-Ten Spring Digital Contest - April 28, 0001Z to April 29, 2359Z

Time for some 10m fun under excellent conditions.  The average daily sunspot numbers more than doubled over the previous week's average, rising 73 points to 144.7. Average daily solar flux
was 133.9, an increase of nearly 29 points.  10 meters should be great fun this weekend.
Ten-Ten Spring Digital Contest--Digital, from Apr 28, 0001Z to Apr 29, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 28. Exchange: Call, name, county & S/P/C, 10-10 number. Logs due: 15 days. Rules

Guglielmo Marconi's Brithday April 25, 1874

Guglielmo Marconi's was born this day on April 25, 1874 and changed the world forever with his groundbreaking work in radio.

Guglielmo Marconi, 1908

Prepper Essentials: Communication and Information

One of the top 10 most important assets to have during a crisis is communication and the information that can be acquired through communication.  Communication can make the difference between life and death in some situations.  It is easy to recognize the high level needs for communication:

• Communicate with your family and friends
• Coordinate with people that can help you
• Acquire information about what is happening in your immediate area
• Acquire information about what is happening nationally
• Obtain information from alternative sources (not just the official channels)

We are entirely too dependent on infrastructure and services in our daily life and take continuity for granted.  Each new disaster demonstrates that "essential" infrastructure and services are surprisingly fragile and go down when we seem to need them most.

• Mobile phones
• Internet
• Electrical grid
• Natural gas
• Public water
• Sewage treatment
• Public transportation
• Fire
• Police
• Local broadcasting (TV and radio)

Being well-prepared for a disaster means having the ability to live independent from infrastructure and public services.  When it comes to communication and information, shortwave radio and amateur radio can provide people with capabilities without reliance on complex and fragile infrastructure.

Emergency communications antenna

At a minimum, every prepper needs to own at least one shortwave radio.  A shortwave radio provides access to information outside of your immediate area including broadcasts originating outside the country.  Many people consider having alternative to official Government information source to be very valuable in some scenarios.  Most shortwave radios also allow reception of the local AM broadcast band which can be extremely valuable (when still operating) during a disaster (evacution routes, traffic conditions, shelter locations, ...).

Here are some minimum features to look for:

• Battery operated and portable
• Receives the AM broadcast band
• Receives the HF frequency range (1.8 Mhz through 30 Mhz)
• Supports AM, LSB, and USB modes
• Can be connected to an external antenna

A shortwave radio is a great investment and one you will want in advance of a disaster.  Local stocks of shortwave radios will certainly be cleaned out very quickly when real disaster strikes.  A shortwave radio isn't a difficult device to operate; however, it is something you must use and familiarize yourself with before you needed it.  There are some excellent resources on the Internet to help you locate stations and frequencies to listen to.

Remember, a failure to plan is planning to fail.

Happy listening.
NJ2X


See other related articles on NJ2X.COM:

• Hunting Shortwave Broadcast Radio Stations
• Book Review: The Road Home by Andrew Baze