You are here470 News Letter for 6-20-2010
470 News Letter for 6-20-2010
Hello everyone, welcome to this weeks news letter, hope everyone is keeping cool, and doing well , lets get started... Field Day is this weekend so here are some tech items for those who may need...
International Third-Party Traffic -- Proceed With Caution
Occasionally, DX stations may ask you to pass a third-party message to a friend or relative in the States. This is all right as long as the US has signed an official third-party traffic agreement with that particular country, or the third party is a licensed amateur. The traffic must be noncommercial and of a personal, unimportant nature. During an emergency, the US State Department will often work out a special temporary agreement with the country involved. But in normal times, never handle traffic without first making sure it is legally permitted.
US Amateurs May Handle Third-Party Traffic With:
V2 Antigua/Barbuda
LO-LW Argentina
VK Australia
V3 Belize
CP Bolivia
T9 Bosnia-Herzegovina
PP-PY Brazil
VE, VO, VY Canada
CA-CE Chile
HJ-HK Colombia
D6 Comoros (Federal Islamic Republic of)
TI, TE Costa Rica
CM, CO Cuba
HI Dominican Republic
J7 Dominica
HC-HD Ecuador
YS El Salvador
C5 Gambia, The
9G Ghana
J3 Grenada
TG Guatemala
8R Guyana
HH Haiti
HQ-HR Honduras
4X, 4Z Israel
6Y Jamaica
JY Jordan
EL Liberia
V7 Marshall Islands
XA-XI Mexico
V6 Micronesia, Federated States of
YN Nicaragua
HO-HP Panama
ZP Paraguay
OA-OC Peru
DU-DZ Philippines
VR6 Pitcairn Island*
V4 St. Kitts/Nevis
J6 St. Lucia
J8 St. Vincent and the Grenadines
9L Sierra Leone
ZR-ZU South Africa
3DA Swaziland
9Y-9Z Trinidad/Tobago
TA-TC Turkey
GB United Kingdom
CV-CX Uruguay
YV-YY Venezuela
4U1ITU ITU - Geneva
4U1VIC VIC - Vienna
Notes:
* Since 1970, there has been an informal agreement between the United Kingdom and the US, permitting Pitcairn and US amateurs to exchange messages concerning medical emergencies, urgent need for equipment or supplies, and private or personal matters of island residents.
US licensed amateurs may operate in the following US territories under their FCC license:
Please note that the Region 2 Division of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) has recommended that international traffic on the 20 and 15-meter bands be conducted on the following frequencies:
14.100-14.150 MHz
14.250-14.350 MHz
21.150-21.200 MHz
21.300-21.450 MHz
The IARU is the alliance of Amateur Radio societies from around the world; Region 2 comprises member-societies in North, South and Central America, and the Caribbean.
Note: At the end of an exchange of third-party traffic with a station located in a foreign country, an FCC-licensed amateur must transmit the call sign of the foreign station as well as his own call sign.
The RST Reporting System
While roaming around the upper part of the 40 meter Ham Band in the LSB MODE, I recently overheard a conversation between a roundtable group. I listened for a few moments and then heard one of the Hams who was most likely new to Ham Radio, ask one of the others in the group to give him a signal report.
The report he got back from the other station was, "You're 59". Silence was heard for a few moments and then the "new" ham said, "I did not want you to guess my age....how do you hear me?
The reply was again, "You're 59". "What do you mean?" The new Ham said.
Then another station in the roundtable began a very lengthy dissertation to try to explain the RST reporting method to him that no one could have understood! He started talking about power levels, dB's, S meters, propagation, antenna theory, brand names, receiver sensitivity and on and on for a good five minutes! When the new ham started to ask questions, another station spoke up and totally confused the situation even more! Then another station started with his 'two cents" worth. After a couple more questions with no clear answers......The new ham finally said "I still don't understand how well you are hearing me.....I hear the phone ringing....got to go!", and he signed off. He sounded very disgusted to me when he left the air abruptly!
In my opinion, in answering his question...."How do you hear me?"....it would have been much better in this case to just say "loud and clear" since the new ham had obviously not studied the RST system of signal reporting and none of the roundtable station operators could explain RST to him in simple terms....they just seemed to want to dazzle him with as much "info" as possible! It seemed to me that they were trying to help in their own way, but did not want to admit their lack of a "good" explaination. They could have suggested that he study the RST reporting system on the internet or wherever he could find the information.
To help the "New" hams and lots of you old timers who know nothing about giving or receiving signal reports using the RST method...read on!
THE RST REPORTING SYSTEM IN A NUTSHELL!
RST Reports: An RST report is a report from a receiving station on the quality and strength of the transmitted signal. Using shorthand in the form of numbers to represent the tone of a CW signal or voice transmission of a transmitting station's signal at the receiving station's location (QTH).
Here is what it means:
R Readability - Understanding what is said and how well. On a scale of 1 to 5, the readability of your signal with a "5" being perfect with no difficulty. In other words the ability of the other operator to understand what you are saying. A "1" is unreadable....a "5" is perfectly readable.
S Strength - On a scale of 1 to 9, indicates how strong your stations signal is. A "1" is a very faint signal. A "9" is an extremely strong signal.
T Tone - Used for morse code signal reports. Indicates on a scale of 1 to 9 the quality of the tone of the morse code "dits and dahs". From a "60 cycle harsh tone" a (1).... To a "very pure tone", a (9).
Example #1 A CW REPORT: If you got a report of "599" on CW, it means the following:
The five means your signal is very easy to understand with absolutely no difficulty. The first nine means your signal registers a very strong reading on your S meter, usually 3/4 scale or more. The second nine means your CW tone has a nice pure clear tone or sound.
Example #2 A VOICE REPORT: If you get a 5 5 (sometimes said 5 by 5)....Your signal is perfectly readable with a fairly good signal strength.
In some cases people may tell you: your signal is five nine plus twenty dB... In this case the twenty db part indicates that your signal is so strong that it goes off the standard 1 through 9 signal strength S meter dial by twenty decibels as indicated on the meter readout. (See note below)This would mean that you are putting out a REALLY strong signal!
NOTE:
The RST System of Signal Reporting was established roughly in 1934 as a quick method of reporting Readability, Signal Strength and the Tone of CW. For voice contacts only the "R" and "S" are used. The "S" component is usually not the same as your S-Meter reading as most S-Meters aren't calibrated to track the RST System. The RST is also reported on QSL Cards and must be filled in correctly. For example a "569" report for a voice contact is NOT valid. Note that many DX operations and contest stations merely report "599" as a convenience to avoid having to log each of the real reports. This is a questionable practice but is used most of the time in DX'ing/Contesting.
Would you give a 599 for a station you could barely hear? Would you appreciate it if this was your report from someone that could barely hear you? Be honest with your reports!
The RST report system works well, can be used for troubleshooting problems with your station and has been used by Hams worldwide for many years and also is used by the military with slight modifications in their reporting of transmissions.
There is a great deal of "averaging all factors" when giving a signal report to another station.
There is a lot of difference between a voice report of 59 and one of 52.....but the most important thing to me would be readability! I have heard hundreds of stations perfectly clear on voice and CW that were not moving the S Meter! (Yes...it does work!) So their report might have been an R5, S1 or 2........to my ears!.....
Study this information below to help you with giving out accurate reports.
R = READABILITY
1 -- Unreadable
2 -- Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable
3 -- Readable with considerable difficulty
4 -- Readable with practically no difficulty
5 -- Perfectly readable
S = SIGNAL STRENGTH
1 -- Faint signals, barely perceptible
2 -- Very weak signals
3 -- Weak signals
4 -- Fair signals
5 -- Fairly good signals
6 -- Good signals
7 -- Moderately strong signals
8 -- Strong signals
9 -- Extremely strong signals
T = TONE
1 -- Sixty cycle a.c. or less, very rough and broad
2 -- Very rough a.c. , very harsh and broad
3 -- Rough a.c. tone, rectified but not filtered
4 -- Rough note, some trace of filtering
5 -- Filtered rectified a.c. but strongly ripple-modulated
6 -- Filtered tone, definite trace of ripple modulation
7 -- Near pure tone, trace of ripple modulation
8 -- Near perfect tone, slight trace of modulation
9 -- Perfect tone, no trace of ripple or modulation of any kind.
The NATO phonetic alphabet, more formally the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet, is the most widely used spelling alphabet. Though often called "phonetic alphabets", spelling alphabets have no connection to phonetic transcription systems like the International Phonetic Alphabet. Instead, the NATO alphabet assigns code words to the letters of the English alphabet acrophonically (Alfa for A, Bravo for B, etc.) so that critical combinations of letters (and numbers) can be pronounced and understood by those who transmit and receive voice messages by radio or telephone regardless of their native language, especially when the safety of navigation or persons is essential. The paramount reason is to ensure intelligibility of voice signals over radio links.
A - Alpha
B - Bravo
C - Charlie
D - Delta
E - Echo
F - Foxtrot
G - Golf
H - Hotel
I - India
J - Juliet
K - Kilo
L - Lima
M - Mike
N - November
O - Oscar
P - Papa
Q - Quebec
R - Romeo
S - Sierra
T - Tango
U - Uniform
V - Victor
W - Whiskey
X - X-ray
Y - Yankee
Z - Zulu
W1AW Announces 2010 Field Day Bulletin Schedule
http://www.arrl.org/news/w1aw-announces-2010-field-day-bulletin-schedule
E-mails Asking for Personal Information Are Not from ARRL
TAGS: ARRL Chief, arrl members, e-mail
06/22/2010
We have received several reports from ARRL members with arrl.net e-mail accounts who have recently been contacted via e-mail asking for personal information, such as user names and passwords. Please be assured that these e-mails are fraudulent attempts at “phishing” and did not originate from ARRL. “This is a very crude attempt at phishing, using an easily determined spoof of the originating/return address,” said ARRL Chief Financial Officer Barry Shelley, N1VXY. “There is never a time when we would ask via mass e-mail for user names and passwords of arrl.net users. There is simply no need to ever do so.” If you receive an e-mail asking for personal information and it looks like it originated from ARRL, please do not respond, just delete it.
I hope that everyone will have a great Field Day weekend...
Ours with SCERS is posted on the site so please check out all information...I have had a lot of calls and e mails about hams wanting to come, all are welcome...bring your family, again we will have drawings for door prizes from our local merchants ...
What is Field DAy for those who don't know...
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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.
-
Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and running through 2059 UTC Sunday. Field Day 2010 will be held June 26-27, 2010.
For Field Day information contact ARRL Field Day Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND at fdinfo@arrl.org or by phone at (860) 594-0236.
Locator FD
http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator
During the last week of June thousands of Ham radio operators across the country will take part in the annual event known as “Field Day.” Many of the 5,000 licensed amateur operators in New Hampshire will set up generator- or battery-powered stations in fields and parks, honing their skills for the time when they will be called to provide communications in the event of natural or man-made emergencies.
The largest disaster response by U.S. amateur radio operators was during Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. More than 1,000 ham operators from all over the U.S. converged on the Gulf Coast in an effort to provide emergency communications assistance. Subsequent Congressional hearings highlighted the amateur radio response as one of the few examples of what went right in the disaster relief effort.
Six months ago ham radio operator provided vital communications from the earthquake ravaged island of Haiti.
Field Day provides, in addition to practice, an opportunity for camaraderie and an ideal venue to educate the public on the various facets of this 21st century hobby.
Titanic TN
We will be the Special Event Station for 2010 with the call of W4S , a joint effort of the Branson Titanic Group and Dave Beckler N0SAP , TenTec will be providing radio's for the event, and Sevier County Emergency Radio Service will be also involved in the special event....those looking to participate in the event as operators anywhere can contact Dave or myself....
This new World Class museum in the Great Smoky Mountains provides a highly interactive, hands-on experience for children, teenagers, and adults of all ages.
Walk Titanic’s Grand Staircase
Touch the frozen surface of an “iceberg”
Grip the ship’s wheel and follow the Captain’s commands
Tour world-class galleries and the rare historical artifacts they hold
Sit in a Titanic lifeboat and listen to actual survivors tell their stories
Send an SOS from the Marconi Wireless Room
Test their balance while standing on mini-decks built to show the ever-steeper slope of Titanic as she sank
Watch children eight years and younger explore the special interactive Tot-Titanic Play-and-Learn Room
Dive to Titanic’s wreck site via spectacular underwater camera footage
On your passenger boarding ticket, you will discover the story of an actual Titanic passenger and will follow their story throughout the exhibit. Each artifact has a unique story that relates directly to a passenger or crew member. When you approach the memorial room at the end of your 2 hour self-guided tour, you will discover the fate of your ticketed passenger.
The year 2010 will mark an important anniversary in the History of Amateur Radio: The birth of the first public service net.
Before the implementation of a net concept, radiogram traffic and emergency communications activity was conducted on a system of schedules and random contacts. Radiogram traffic moved across the country on “Trunk Line” networks staffed on a daily basis by “iron man” traffic handlers. From these key stations, traffic was routed to its destination via individual schedules, directional “CQ” requests, and similar techniques. The ARRL “Amateur Radio Emergency Corps,” “National Traffic System,” and similar programs had not yet emerged.
This all changed during the autumn of 1935 when members of the Detroit Amateur Radio Association (DARA) formed the Michigan Net and adopted the net call “QMN.” The plan was simple and elegant in concept. Using the relatively new technology of crystal control, radio amateurs from throughout the State of Michigan would gather on a single “spot frequency” to exchange radiogram traffic and coordinate emergency communications response to disasters. A QMN Committee standardized the procedures and created the familiar “QN-Signals” so familiar to generations of traffic handlers. With the creation of QMN, the modern traffic net was born.
This year, QMN will celebrate its Diamond Anniversary with a very special event! A 75th Anniversary Banquet will be held at Owosso, Michigan on Saturday, October 23, 2010. Activities include:
? A special event station on 7055 KHz and 3563 KHz using the call K8QMN. This special event station will use vintage equipment from the 1930s and ‘40s. Visitors will have an opportunity to sit down at the key and experience QSOs using 1930s era receivers.
? A presentation entitled “An Early History of Radio” will be featured along with a talk on the history of QMN.
? Long-time members will reminisce about their experiences in Amateur Radio.
? Vintage radio equipment will be on display for all to enjoy.
? A working Morse Telegraph Circuit will be available on site for those who would like to see land-line telegraphy and American Morse Code in use.
? A special commemorative booklet will be provided to each attendee. This commemorative booklet will include an excellent history of QMN written by the Don Devendorf, W8EGI (SK), along with an introduction covering the early history of Amateur Radio.
QMN members both past and present are invited to attend, as are all radio amateurs with an interest in the history of Amateur Radio and the history of public service communications.
Those wishing to attend this event should request a registration form from James Wades, WB8SIW at the following e-mail:
You won’t want to miss this celebration to be held on October 23, 2010 at the Comstock Inn, Owosso, Michigan.
More Information on the Michigan Net, QMN may be found at:
Attic Dipole ...
http://degood.org/coaxtrap/
20 Meter Dipole ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e0RrZKn4jg
Great Antenna Video's....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HlGvULVoGI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nTJ744AZoQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG9XSY8i_q8&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kXRz6fPFKY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNNQ3x8ochA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIlarP4MrlQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr_8nZr5MLA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcIjwufs-P0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNcAuzJQ5QA&feature=related
Amplifiers....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kom9tk5aGWk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6SAiJ1UTXU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbHEMPbsBzs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLvynA0Y3Ig&feature=related
Language Required .....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6RzPWZOkdo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG5vmVPqcrI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoxiL-HDYtI&feature=related
Well hope that you have enjoyed the news and video's for this week, I have had several e mails about the video's and how that everyone likes .. Don't forget the net this Thursday 7:30 pm 145.470..
Have a great day .. 73
Rick
Add On Late..
Your guide to this weekend’s Field Day locations for the state of
> Tennessee and surrounding areas for 2010.
>
> Dear Amateur Radio operators,
>
> It’s this weekend. That’s right amateur radio’s annual open
> house, Field Day. Yes the site has probably been chosen. The grills
> are ready and coax is being liberated from storage all over the land.
> Dipoles are ready to be strung and rigs are ready to hook up to
> generators. Field Day is June 26-27. Please attend a Field Day
> location near you.
>
> You may want to invite anyone who is interested in communication or
> technology etc. After the recent floods in this area, many maybe
> interested in our vitally important communication abilities.
>
> Most locations in Tennessee and nearby commuting areas are already on
> the Field Day grass at n1wi.com (Sunnyside Amateur). If you don’t see
> your location listed at n1wi.com send info to n1wi@hotmail.com. You need
> not be an organized club. However, the location needs to be open to the
> public. The Turn Knobs crew would like a separate email from the ARRL
> Field Day locator since the information is slightly different and
> allows a few short details. Please keep your ham information updated
> and accurate in all the other usual places (ARRL, QRZ, and FCC) as
> well. We have both the very clickable list at
> http://n1wi.com/Fd2010.aspx and the all text printable list
> http://n1wi.com/Fd2010text.aspx.
>
> This year, those turn knobs loco gif pigs will be spending Field Day at
> the RF resort. They have put together a short presentation about the RF
> Resort and how to get your Field Day location checked into the Turn
> knobs list. Just click on the arrows near the bottom of the page, link
> is also on n1wi.com.
>
> Turn knobs, get on the air, and help in disasters goal is to encourage
> current and future hams to work toward a brighter future for our hobby.
> Once again the Turn knobs, Get on the air, and help in disasters, Field
> Day list is at n1wi.com, (sunny side amateur) and click on the pigs.
> Thank you, and we look forward to hearing from you!
>
> 73,
>
> Teri Barer, N1WI
>
> Turn knobs Get on the air and help in disasters, the list of Field Day
> locations in TN and nearby areas http://n1wi.com/Fd2010.aspx
> http://cid-50f79abcf18ed337 pig slide
> http://n1wi.com/Fd2010text.aspx
> http://n1wi.com/Fd2010.aspx
> Quick flyer and quick QSLs at n1wi.com
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> ARRL Tennessee Section
> Section Manager: Glen D Clayton, W4BDB
> w4bdb@arrl.org
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
