Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Kenwood TS-700

I've got a bit newer version of the TS-700 (with a digital readout) that I picked up at the Ada Hamfest. Can't run the net with it any longer since we put the tone on the repeater. These rigs can run on AC and are SSB-capable. Fun rigs.

Enjoy the video of a short UK QSO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo-ZdO7Z02A


You'll hear a bit of sideband in action.

73
Scott
KD5NJR

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Merry Christmas !!

Merry Christmas guys and gals.

As far as Ham Radio, did anyone receive any shiny new gadgets ?!?

I got one of those combination jump-start batteries with a built-in air compressor, but I think I could run the radios off of it for a while. 12-Amp*hrs.

LINK:
http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=C0T&q=black+and+decker+jump+start+500A&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title/


Any handi-talkies ? GPS ? etc. ??

Leave a comment.

73
KD5NJR / Scott

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Wagoner Windtalkers

Jeff Sharrock( AF4CM)

http://www.cq-vhf.com/Spr07Wagoner.html

This is a link to information about the Wagoner Windtalkers.

A recently licensed ham - Josh(KE5Yll) spoke to me yesterday.
I understand that many of the Highschool Students from Wagoner (18, I think) have just completed testing and are now Amateur Radio Operators.

Congratulations Josh and our most respectful thanks to Jeff Sharrock and everyone involved in this outstanding adventure.

Free DTMF computer program

This is a test Post that includes the ability to add sound to the blog.  The test will allow you to hear my voice... that will occur when you mouse over the picture.  If you move the mouse away the sound will halt.







allows your computer to generate the tones necessary to use Autopatch, Echolink and other functions that are found on repeaters in the Tulsa Area.


It can be downloaded for free and makes a nice addition to your tool box.


If you do not have a cable between your computer and radio simply key up your microphone and hold it near the computer speaker. Works fine last a long time.



Sunday, December 21, 2008

Now and Then




Clay Fry(W5GNG) is the first of us to drag out a photo of how it was back then.























Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Silent Key List

Harlan G Kinney( K9GDK )

It seems reasonable and good to begin a list of the Silent Keys. Men who will not be forgotten.
This list is a list of honor and respect. Let's call it:

Harlan's List

Add names of those Silent Key Amateur Radio Operators that you have known and as you add comments about them I will add them to this list. Photos are not required (probably will not be used). If you want a full post about a particular Silent Key, It very possibly could happen. Send an Email .

__________________________________________________

Chet( N5ITV) - from Matt(WX5LIB ) –
Chet was a great guy to talk to and made several of my boring nights working off duty security tolerable. Working off duty security where nothing at all ever happens for years on end is tough. It's tough to stay alert enough to do your job effectively. Several nights Chet would be there on one of the local repeaters or on a 2m simplex frequency to talk to a group of about 5-6 local hams. He passed away in the summer of 2006. More info here:http://www.redforkok.com/N5ITV_SK.html


Russ Johnson(W8TOS) - from Matt(WX5LIB) –
S/Sgt Russ Johnson, 5th USAAF, 61st Service Sqdn, of the PTOA in World War 2.
My grandfather.


John Worthan(N5RWL) - from Stan(Ke5LEP) –
John was my brother in law, more like a brother. He died of pneumonia at 59years old. He was assisting with an Ice Storm in Mustang, Oklahoma when he got sick. My journey into Ham radio began with him.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Zenith Transoceanic Receivers


I picked a couple of these up off eBay a few years ago for Christmas presents. One for me, and one for my Dad. His had the better finish and HF works great. Mine, on the other hand, needs some work on the HF. It might just be a matter of a dirty band switch as the AM works, but not the HF. (FM and VHF weather work.)

Anyone have a favorite rig for SWL work or broadcast band DX'ing ?

Scott's Tektronix 7603 Scope


I picked up a 7603 frame and a 7D20 digitizing 'scope module at Green Country Hamfest some years ago. Here is a great narrative about whipping an old piece of test gear back into shape. Anyone fixed up something interesting lately ? Comments welcome.

Hey, the guy that runs this page has a neat radio repair blog too...

Oscilloscope Collection


There are a lot of great vintage machines here !

Am I getting out?




Monday, December 15, 2008

Hamfest Calendar

Upcoming Hamfests

January
Location Day #1 --> Day #2
  • Fort Worth, TX 1/9/09 --> 1/10/09
  • Springfield, MO 1/10/09 --> 1/10/09
  • Albuquerque, NM 1/31/09 --> 1/31/09

February
Location Day #1 --> Day #2
  • LaCygne, KS 2/14/09 --> 2/14/09
  • Hoxie, AR 2/28/09 --> 2/28/09

March
Location Day #1 --> Day #2
  • Russellville, AR 3/7/09 --> 3/7/09
  • Claremore, OK 3/13/09 --> 3/14/09
  • Lincoln, NE 3/21/09 --> 3/1/09
  • Midland, TX 3/21/09 --> 3/21/09

It's Back... 10m Net

Gang,

Looks like Ray KC5WSI is spear-heading the revived 10m net. Th @ 7p. 29.600 MHz FM Simplex. We can sure use the help and he needs your support on the other end of radio. Thanks all.

73
Scott
KD5NJR

Toys for Tots - Success!


click to enlarge photo



Many...Motorcycles
Much Fun and - Time Well Spent

Ray Truitt(KC5WSI)
Ray Young(KE5WGA)
Paul Young(KE5EHM)
Tom Hance(KD5CNY)
Ron Lancaster(KB5VDB)...

20,000+

Toys for Tots - Bike Run
Sunday 12/14/2008

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Toys for Tots Bike Run

._
Ray(KC5WSI)


click to enlarge photo


hello every one this is ray kc5wsi, just want to let everyone know that myself and several other hams will be rideing in the toys for tots bike run tomorrow on the 14th-i beleave we will be using the 390 repeter to stay in touch with our hts, i will also be stopping at jimmys egg for breakfest around 9am or so before the run, so if any one would like to join me i would love to meet u and ride in with you all, hope to see all of you and metting everyone.
ill also be taking pictures of the run for the blog. thanks hope to see u there.

December 13, 2008 10:03 AM

sorry i forgot to say wich jimmys egg-its the one at 31 st between mingo and garnett-thanks ray kc5wsi







Dub Cross(N5NXX)



Tom(KD5CNY and Dorthey(KD5CNZ)

Breakfast 01/03/2009


Elmer still wants to come to the Broken Arrow Ham Radio Breakfast.

Nice try



1. You must be a "Real Person" not a dog dressed up like a person.
2. You are not required to be a Licensed Ham Radio Operator
3. You must not eat out of a dog dish frequently.


8:00 AM



Golden Corral - 71ST and Mingo, Northeast Corner


Menu

Friday, December 12, 2008

Breakfast Photos 12/6/2008









































Ham Radio - Art






This is from a pencil drawing of a famous ham radio person.

Do you know who it is?

Leave a comment (Get a free Google ID...anonomous comments are not allowed)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Scope Clock



Just the thing for everyone's mad-scientist lair....

I mean, ham shack...


YOUTUBE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9yRTyN7_EI


WEBSITE:
http://www.cathodecorner.com/sc100.html

A Fascinating Nixie Tube Clock


I've seen these Nixie Tube Clock kits on the Internet and the Ramsey catalog and thought they were pretty cool, but this one uses a single bulb and a motor to rotate it. Consistent motor speed and timing of the digits are critical. Note there is a field for seconds.



Watch the YouTube video at the link below. TOo COol.

More info here.
And here


73
Scott
KD5NJR

News - QRZ

Butch(KD5RSS) reports that the QRZ web site that many of us use has undergone a revision.

It is now possible to bring up a map associated with the Call sign that you have searched. This is a nice revision.

Try it out.


http://www.qrz.com/

Monday, December 8, 2008

How Did You Start in Ham Radio ?

In a few words, what
a) people
b) needs
c) interest
d) modes
brought you to ham radio ?

Leave a comment !

73
Scott
KD5NJR

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Digital BPSK-31 from California

One of my recent projects was to hook up my radio to the computer and learn about PSK31 digital transmission.

I hooked up the "CAT" interface first. This is the interface that allows the computer keyboard to control the radio.

Then the Audio interface to my soundcard. This interface allowed the computer program to decode the characters as they were recieved by the radio. I used Ham Radio Deluxe / DM780 for this function.

Here is the recorded QSO:

10:50:58 AM> Main
W6VZV de KE5LEP KE5LEP pse kn
ie-
Roger(W6VZV) - In California












E5LEP KE5LEP de W6VZV W6VZV ...

Hi OM ... thank you for the shout!
Ur sig: 559 559
Info: Name is Roger ... Name is Roger ... QTH is Huntington Beach, CA ... QTH Huntington Beach, CA which is Surf City USA
Grid DMØ3xq [269.3° 1,270.6mi] DMØ3xq [269.3° 1,270.6mi]


===> BTU KE5LEP de W6VZV pse kn

10:52:31 AM> Main
W6VZV de KE5LEP

Hi Roger ,
Report : 599 599
Name : Stan Stan qth Broken Arrow, Oklahoma Broken Arrow, Oklahoma loc EM25cx EM25cx
Info : www.w5bbs.org/ BROKEN ARROW AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

BTU Roger J Buffington, W6VZV de KE5LEP pse kn


KE5LEP KE5LEP de W6VZV W6VZV ...FB Stan and solid copy even if the sigs are not moving the meter much. Here the Wx is light rain. We are getting our first real Autumn rainfall, although just a very light d=nizzle, almost a mist. Still good for the plants though. I see that we are on our third day of having a Cycle 24 sunspot group, so maybe there is hope for Cycle 24 after all.
==> BTU KE5LEP de W6VZV k ntn
-
e
10:55:15 AM> Main
No rain here, sunny. I hope you have a nice day. kn


oteEtteeKE5LEP KE5LEP de W6VZV W6VZV ...OK 73 Stan and thanks for the FB contact... Good DX and catch you later! KE5LEP (Auto-eQSL) de W6VZV SK
10:56:21 AM> Main
W6VZV de KE5LEP 73 Roger J Buffington and thanks for PSK31 QSO 2 on 2Øm.
W6VZV de KE5LEP sk


Email me!

Breakfast Sign In Sheet 12/06/2008

Name Call Sign Email
Tom Hance KD5CNY kd5cny@qsl.net
Dan Tillman KE5UAW d7777@netscape.com
Craig Wooten KD5CUZ kd5cuz@cox.net
Don McHugh N5XIK jackson17@cox.net
John Lathrop N5TBM john5tbm@att.net
Clorine Lathrop john5tbm@att.net
Butch Perryman KD5RSS owlhoot@aol.com
Ray Young KE5WGA broncoman351@sbcglobal.net
Don Roberts KE5OMV ke5omv@yahoo.com
Cat Roberts KE5OMU ke5omv@yahoo.com
Stan Pennington KE5LEP stanpennington@valornet.com
Shirley Pennington KE5PAQ stanpennington@valornet.com
Don Gregory KE5MXH dozerhand40@yahoo.com
Hank Sossin KE5UBR henryjs@cox.net
Scott Haley KD5NJR kd5njr@gmail.com
Earl Stutzman WB5UUW stutzman2@cox.net
Keith Arnold KE5VFL bonestock78f150@yahoo.com
Kevin Arnold KD5RHF prez@w5665.org
Gerry Paschal KC5JKU gerry-paschal@valornet.com
Stan Thompson KE5WPX sthompson@citizenssecurity.com
Christy Thompson cristythompson@ssa.gov
Virginia Mitchell KA2QHE
Bob Mitchell W2CSL bigbob6@cox.net

Sending DTMF tones

I have been wanting to use the Preston Echolink enabled repeater for a while now.

My first roadblock was not having a DTMF microphone. Thanks to a dear friend the microphone was made available as a generous gift to me. After receving the new mic and plugging it in I found that I could not get it to work.

Because I was able to attend the recent Broken Arrow Ham Radio Breakfast I mentioned the problem to Kevin Arnold(KD5RHF). He ask if I was holding down on the push to talk key when trying to send DTMF. I said "Yes" I think I was.

Even though I knew that what Kevin said was exactly how it works I needed a reminder.

Now I can send DTMF. Problem Solved...Thank you Kevin and the Broken Arrow Ham Radio Breakfast group.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Congratulations! Tulsa Tech Net

Yesterday, December 5 marked the beginning of something good. The Tulsa Tech Net started with a large group of amateurs from 4 or 5 of the local clubs. Broken Arrow Amateur Radio Club hosted the event on the 146.910 repeater. Don Roberts(KE5OMV), Dan Lairmore(W5YDL) and Ray Truitt(KC5WSI) were the Net Control operators and set the direction of the event. All of the stations were encouraged to ID, give their first name, and start discussion on any topic that would be helpful to them and the group.The topics that come to mind were:Baluns - When do you use them? What is their purpose? Are the needed at all? What about the type to use (4:1 - 1:1).APRS - Where can you find a site on the WWW (Internet) that shows the location and map of APRS equipped mobile riggs.Other Radio Specific Questions - How do you use a DTMF mic on a Kenwood TS-2000 Radio.What could cause a radio to stop scanning when the vehicle cruise control is activated.Many things that will be recorded on the Tulsa Tech Net Blog were discussed.If you have any unresolved attemts to communicate feel free to Email me at stanpennington@valornet.com I will forward messages to Don, Dan and Ray.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Breakfast Saturday 8:00 AM

click title line above for menu



ELMER
(Real name not given by request of relatives)


Elmer will not be coming to the

Broken Arrow Ham Radio Breakfast but many of the Ham Radio operators from this area will attend.

Elmer tried to disguise himself and come to Mingo and 71st Street at the Golden Corral but his plan was discovered and It will not happen.

You must be a person.

We are open to any and all but not Elmer. Please join us. You do not have to be a licensed ham radio operator.

You are invited.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Simplex Operation

You don't need a repeater to enjoy your 2m and 70cm radio equipment.

Communication between 2 radios tuned to the same frequency is called simplex operation.

You'll want to do a few things with regards to radio settings.
a) all radios tuned to the same frequency. typically 146.520, 146.535, 146.550.
b) all radios set to no split.
c) "Open" your squelch until static rushes through the speaker, then slowly increase it until the static just barely stops.
d) This probably isn't a big deal, but unless folks have CTCSS (PL) tone decode on, you don't need to send a PL tone.

In theory, you can talk to your friends until they are just beyond the horizon. This assumes you have plenty of power, which isn't always the case in portable equipment. So, remember the process to switch your radio to HI power when the other parties get to sounding crummy. Check in frequently so you don't get hopelessly out of range.

Height matters. If you can get up above your friends, you can be a human repeater and relay messages from one station to another. Assume there is a hill 400 ft. above the average terrain of your friends. You'll be able to talk out back and forth out to the horizon which in this case will be SQRT(height in feet) * 1.2 = miles. Or, 1.2 * 20 = 24 miles. Not bad. Bring a full battery and an aftermarket antenna like an AL-800 if you can.

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/3235

Some folks really take getting up high to extremes. For example, you could go "aeronautical mobile" if you could get a ride with a private pilot. OR, check out this link for an event called the Colorado 14er.
http://www.14er.org/
http://www.k0nr.com/vhfqrp.html

Lemme know what you think and I can into more detail on external antennas, portable power packs, and maybe 2m SSB operation.

73
Scott
KD5NJR

KD5NJR's Link Roundup for 12/1/08

1. Ham Radio:

From "This Week in Amateur Radio", an article on the weather website "Weather Underground".
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/23/BUJG149J8K.DTL
There are a lot of weather buffs in Ham Radio and it looks like a lot of folks are able to report their backyard WX stations into the internet.

KB6NU on pessimism and how Amateur Radio should reach out to the other technical hobbies.
http://kb6nu.com/im-tired-of-pessimism/
http://www.kb6nu.com/lets-get-on-the-maker-bandwagon/


Arnie CO2KK on SWL'ing, DX and introducing the young into Amateur Radio.
http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com/2008/11/dxers-unlimited-mid-week-edition-for-18.html

Steve Roberts (N4RVE?) on his "Shacktopus" project that joints all his ham rigs, computers, etc. together.
http://nomadness.com/blog/2008/11/shacktopus-architecture.html
Steve has carried ham radio and computers on bikes, kayaks, and boats large and small for about 25 years now.
Example: his current sailboat project: http://nomadness.com/blog/2008/11/consoling-thoughts.html

2. Computers:
From K0NR, he continues to hack the very reasonably priced Acer Aspire computer.
http://www.k0nr.com/wordpress/archives/445

From K5TUX, Linux in the Ham Shack rolls along: http://blacksparrowmedia.com/lhs/2008/11/linux-in-the-ham-shack-004/


3. Electronics:
From K9ZW, an article on a new website called "solder by numbers" about kit building.
http://k9zw.wordpress.com/2008/11/28/solder-by-numbers-a-kit-builders-virtual-clubhouse/


4. Astronomy:
Water found on a moon of Saturn ?
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features/feature20081126.cfm

The ISS turns 10. http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/10_years_of_the_iss_in_pi.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

5. Others. -- none come to mind --

Well, that's good for now.
73
Scott

The Amateur's Code

Some good food for thought here.
73

Scott / KD5NJR


The Amateur's Code

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 requested; 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 owed 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.