Handiham World for 31 December 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

End-of-year greetings from all of us at Handihams! At this time of the year, it is traditional to over all the old stories from the previous year. Guess what? I''m not going to do that, thus sparing you from the tedium of one more retrospective. Consider it my New Year''s gift to all of our readers and listeners. It isn''t that important stuff hasn''t happened over the previous year, it''s just that too many media outlets and editors cobble together old stories so that they don''t have to do any work on current news at the end of the year. Me? I would rather just make this a short and to the point issue as we look forward to 2009. You''re welcome.

There are several new handiham-related things to look forward to early on in the new year.

The first item of business is related to our Handiham Nets:

Beginning January 1, Howard, KE7KNN, our Net Manager, will begin taking counts of the stations checked in for each net session. This information can be sent as official National Traffic System traffic, if the net control station so desires. This is the way it is done on the PICONET, which I will get to in a minute. The idea of counting stations checking in and coming up with the total to pass on to the Net Manager will help us to get an idea of how healthy the net really is and whether it is growing or shrinking. Furthermore, sending the total as official traffic will help gain all of us more experience with NTS. For example, let''s say I am the net control station and I tally 20 stations that checked in during my session of the net. At the end of the net, I would prepare a piece of traffic for Howard that would go something like this:

This is message number one routine from WA0TDA, current time and date, to KE7KNN. Station total 20. Signature Pat

I know this isn''t the exact formal style of the ARRL radiogram form, but it should be good enough to get things done. Howard will probably be listening to the net and will take the traffic directly, or you can use the radiogram format to include his e-mail address for delivery, which is ke7knn@arrl.net. Most stations handling traffic will keep some kind of log so that they don''t lose count of which message number they should be using.

As long as we are talking about the nets, I want to share with you a message from our Net Manager:

Hi Pat,

Your e-letter has me listed as the net manager, but you have Arlene''s call sign! Remember, she''s the pretty one! My call sign is KE7KNN. I have noticed on the net that we are getting a lot of interference from one station using JAWS. Anyone using automated speech such as JAWS needs to turn it down when they are on the net. Also, we need people to be careful not to overdrive their microphones. I''ll be out there listening each day. You can email me at KE7KNN@arrl.net. That is for everyone for the nets.

Thanks, Howard

Pat says: My apologies to Howard for getting his callsign wrong in the previous edition. Darn it, I was hoping to make it through the entire year of 2008 without a single mistake. One of the things I am going to do over the coming months, and you can call this a New Year''s resolution if you like, is to tune around the bands and try to really get to know what is going on on the frequencies that I seldom visit. It has been my habit to consistently return to the same old frequencies, usually at the same time of day. Who knows what I might be missing? Furthermore, I just may get some ideas about when and where to build new handiham nets. Keep in mind that we are open to suggestions as to which high frequency nets we want to keep during 2009. The best way to form a solid opinion is to try really hard to listen at different times and on different frequencies to learn exactly what is going on. Keep an open mind about this, and send your suggestions to either Howard or me.

The next item of business is the remote base:

We are still on track to bring the remote base online for member use in early 2009. Stan is still working on the software, but we expect to begin an orderly assignment of passwords to members in the first quarter of 2009. There is still quite a lot to do on the instruction pages, and frankly I am a bit worried about getting inundated with tech support requests. I do need to make the instruction pages more detailed so that our users will be able to figure out as much as possible on their own. One of the things you will be able to do with the remote base is to check in to the PICONET, a very active daily HF net with a long time association with the Handihams.

The PICONET has a history paralleling the handiham system, having started in the late 1960s and continuing to this day as a successful net. It is worth looking at because it has had staying power in the face of a great deal of technological and social change in amateur radio. The tenor of the net is one of camaraderie and informality with a modest helping of public service and a friendly net control station. Net control station duties are shared among a list of volunteers who take "their hour" on a particular day of the week. The system has evolved over the decades as a practical method to avoid any one person being tasked with too many hours and too much control. Everyone understands that each net control station has a different personality. A count of stations checking in is maintained and passed as a piece of traffic at the end of each hour. Because the net is on 3.925 MHz, a frequency band covered by most out-of-the-box commercial wire antennas and verticals, there are few technical problems for participants setting up a station. An annual get-together reinforces the social aspect of the net. There is a website. A "blank hour" is rare.

At last September''s PICONET get-together I met friends I''ve known for years, but there were also some teenagers just getting started in amateur radio. The "marketing department" even scored newspaper coverage with photos. To all intents and purposes, the PICONET is alive and well and serves as a good example of an entity that maintains the correct mix to stay that way. It will be fun for Handiham members far and wide to be able to check in via the remote base.

For Handiham World, I''m Patrick Tice, wa0tda@arrl.net

patt@couragecenter.org

Handiham World for 24 December 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Holiday office hours

The Handiham offices will be closed on Wednesday, December 24 and through the Christmas holiday weekend, reopening Monday morning, December 29.

The Handiham Remote Base station will remain active for beta testers throughout the entire holiday season, day and night. It has survived a recent 30 degree below zero morning at Courage North! Be sure to connect to W0EQO-L via your computer EchoLink application to listen to the remote base receiver.

Our full-service website at handiham.org will remain in operation and will be updated as necessary throughout the entire weekend. However, technical support for lost passwords and login problems will probably not be available until next week.

Online education lectures will be available, but will not be updated this week, as I will be busy playing with all the new toys Santa hopefully will bring me for being such a good boy all year long. On the other hand, if Santa brings me a lump of coal for being bad, at least I can burn it to keep warm!

Before we get started with the e-letter, I want to wish all of our readers and podcast listeners the best for a wonderful holiday season from all of us at Courage Center and the Handiham System.

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Center Handiham Manager
patt@couragecenter.org

Handiham World for 17 December 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

WA0TDA: Internet security becomes a ham radio topic

Yes, I know. Computers are taking over the world, including ham radio, right?

15 years ago, there were still plenty of hams mightily resistant to the idea of a computer in the ham shack. Each year, I saw more and more computer equipment showing up at hamfests. There were complaints that the hamfests were nothing but computers anymore!

Today there are few holdouts who still don't have computers, especially ham shack computers. Heck, many of us have multiple ham shack computers, often running different operating systems. They control our radios, do our logging, and act as digital mode input and output devices. They make EchoLink and IRLP possible. They can give a digital transfusion to a cranky HT that's lost its memories. In short, they have become essential for most of us, and even the most reluctant computer user will have to admit that an Internet computer in the shack is essential for callsign lookup!

So, like any other piece of ham gear, the shack computer sometimes has its problems. It's really the only piece of gear in the shack that can be damaged by malicious intrusions via the Internet, and because so many ham radio operators are exposed to this danger, radio clubs are beginning to take notice and offer their members some help. Why, just today Microsoft is set to release a vital security update for the Internet Explorer browser. Without the update, an unsuspecting user could risk having their computer hijacked just by visiting a website. Worse yet, the owner of the website may not know that their site is infected. Then there is email spam. This morning I received multiple messages from "Hallmark Cards" containing zip file attachments. Of course as a savvy user I know that Hallmark did not send these messages, and the attached files were harmful viruses designed to take over my computer and steal personal data.

How can your ham club help its members to avoid becoming victims? Here are my suggestions:

1. Form a computer or Internet Technology committee. Members of the committee can be "go-to" people if anyone in the club has a question.
2. Consider having a club presentation on Internet Security. If a club member cannot present, try getting an expert from outside the club.
3. If your club owns an email distribution list, be sure that it is protected from spammers. Open lists are a disaster waiting to happen!
4. Extend your club's Elmering program to computers, at least the ones that will be used in the ham shack. Members who are new to computing may not know the basics of setting up their computers with firewalls and antivirus software.
5. Stay informed! Nothing changes as fast as the world of computing technology, so posting relevant stories on your club's website may be in order.

Now, have I got you worried about today's Internet Explorer security patch? Read about it on the BBC website, in a story entitled "Microsoft plans quick fix for IE". Microsoft is due to issue a patch to fix a security flaw believed to have affected as many as 10,000 websites.

For your Handiham World, I'm...

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Center Handiham Manager
patt@couragecenter.org

Handiham World for 10 December 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

WA0TDA: A short news day

Darned if I didn't have to spend most of today in meetings. Well, guess what? You can't get the weekly e-letter and podcast done while you are sitting in a meeting. If you try to record even the teensiest bit of podcast audio about some ham radio topic, your fellow meeting-goers tend to look at you like you're an odd duck.

So this is a very short edition this week. I plan to be back on track with a regular edition next Wednesday.

Last week we invited you you to use EchoLink to log on to the remote base in receive only mode. I'm going to give you directions again, in case you missed last week's edition, and because I left something important out: You have to log in from a computer as a regular callsign user. Some of our readers and listeners were flummoxed last week, because they were trying to log on via a node using RF, or from a -L or -R callsign. Only regular users are allowed, up to five at a time. Look for the station callsign, W0EQO-L, node number 261171. Connect to the remote base, and you will turn the radio on automatically, and the audio stream will begin. If you happen to do this while the radio is in use, you may hear stations on frequency immediately. If the radio is in use through the W4MQ software, there may be periods while the control operator is transmitting where you do not hear anything, but upon receive you will hear the other signals. If there is no control operator logged in via the W4MQ interface, you can use the EchoLink text feature to control the radio's frequency. Simply enter a number like 5 into the text box and press enter. The radio will respond by changing the VFO to 5 MHz, and you will hear WWV if conditions are favorable. If you want to listen to PICONET on 3.925 MHz, enter 3925 and press enter. The system does not require you to enter the decimal point. If the radio is in the wrong mode, simply sending a U will change the mode to USB, L to LSB, C to CW, A to AM, and so on. When you log on via EchoLink, there is a possibility that there will be other users logged on already, and they may be listening to a frequency they chose. Be respectful of others and don't change the frequency unless you think the other station might be finished. On the other hand, don't hog the station when someone else wants to use it. Up to five users can listen at once. Oh, and one more thing: Since our TS-480 is equipped with blind-friendly speech frequency output, you will hear the radio tell you what frequency it is on as soon as you make a change. Please give the Handiham Remote Base a try and let me know what happens, and I will share your comments with our engineering team, and possibly even with our e-letter readers and podcast listeners!
For your Handiham World, I'm...

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Center Handiham Manager
patt@couragecenter.org

Handiham World for 03 December 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

WA0TDA: Remote Base Update

As we have been reporting, the Handiham Remote Base HF station is on track to go live to member use in early 2009. Stan, W4MQ, is working on some software updates to make the process of setting up and operating the rig control software easier for our blind Handiham members. Our thanks to him and to our beta testers, and especially to Lyle, K0LR, project engineer, and Joe, N3AIN, our expert JAWS volunteer and TS-480 user, for working with Stan to identify issues with the accessibility of the system.

One concern that Lyle and I have had is what would happen to the TS-480, the system computer, and the related interface electronics when the temperature dropped in the "shack", which is unheated. Temperatures have not fallen below about 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-12 Celsius) outdoors yet, but we have had no problems thus far. The station is located in the attic of the Courage North dining hall, and the entire building is unheated. In northern Minnesota, which is near the center of the North American continent, dense, cold Arctic air often settles in for long periods of time. It is not unheard of for this part of North America to reach morning low temperatures far below zero. International Falls, Minnesota is used as a testing spot for cold weather operation of new cars. This cold spot was satirized in the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons as "Frostbite Falls". How true to life that is!

At any rate, we will no doubt experience our coldest temperature at the remote base site sometime in January, about two weeks following the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, which is December 21. That is the day of the least sunshine, but there is a two week lag as the atmosphere catches up, which I guess would be because of thermal inertia. Thus, the really telling cold weather should arrive around mid-January and likely linger for several weeks. It is during this period that the station will be most severely tested as we reach the bottom of the operating temperature envelope.

Now, here is another development: We would like to invite you to use EchoLink to log on to the remote base in receive only mode. Look for the station callsign, W0EQO-L, node number 261171. Connect to the remote base, and you will turn the radio on automatically, and the audio stream will begin. If you happen to do this while the radio is in use, you may hear stations on frequency immediately. If the radio is in use through the W4MQ software, there may be periods while the control operator is transmitting where you do not hear anything, but upon receive you will hear the other signals. If there is no control operator logged in via the W4MQ interface, you can use the EchoLink text feature to control the radio's frequency. Simply enter a number like 5 into the text box and press enter. The radio will respond by changing the VFO to 5 MHz, and you will hear WWV if conditions are favorable. If you want to listen to PICONET on 3.925 MHz, enter 3925 and press enter. The system does not require you to enter the decimal point. If the radio is in the wrong mode, simply sending a U will change the mode to USB, L to LSB, C to CW, A to AM, and so on. When you log on via EchoLink, there is a possibility that there will be other users logged on already, and they may be listening to a frequency they chose. Be respectful of others and don't change the frequency unless you think the other station might be finished. On the other hand, don't hog the station when someone else wants to use it. Up to five users can listen at once. Oh, and one more thing: Since our TS-480 is equipped with blind-friendly speech frequency output, you will hear the radio tell you what frequency it is on as soon as you make a change. Please give the Handiham Remote Base a try and let me know what happens, and I will share your comments with our engineering team, and possibly even with our e-letter readers and podcast listeners!

For your Handiham World, I'm...

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Center Handiham Manager

Handiham World for 26 November 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

WA0TDA: Why nets are important

Although I grew up in a medium-sized city, at one point in my working life I moved to a small town of under 1500 people. I've lived in the Twin Cities metropolitan area now for over 20 years. In my travels and in my various jobs I have worked and lived or visited cities of all different sizes. One thing that seems to be common no matter where one lives is the need to become part of a community. Sometimes a community can include nearly everyone in town, as it does when you live in a small village. For most of us, however, we self-select our own specific communities built upon some common interest or experience. Thus, you may live in a huge city but be part of a small, dedicated community of people who are devoted to rock collecting. "Rock hounds" have regular meetings that include programs and socializing. And lots of rocks.

This, of course, is how amateur radio works as well, except without the rocks. All of us who are amateur radio operators share a common experience of having passed a licensing examination. Our activity is unique because it is all about communication. Those rock collectors have to go someplace to meet -- a physical address in a real room. Ham radio operators don't have to do that. We can be part of a community by having regular meetings at a school, church, or restaurant, but we have the unique ability to meet together on the air using amateur radio. When we formalize this process, we call the result a net!

“Net” is short for network, and in ham radio it means a collection of stations gathered together on the same frequency in order to exchange information. Within the larger community of amateur radio operators there are many smaller interest groups that coalesce into their own smaller communities. Activities like amateur radio in space attract a cadre of technically minded operators who make friends and exchange information through AMSAT, including AMSAT nets. Nets can be very local in nature as part of a club activity on a 2 m repeater, or they can be global on the HF bands or EchoLink. One advantage of meeting other members of your community on the air in a net is that you don't have to travel or worry about hazardous weather. Heck, you don't even have to make yourself presentable unless your net happens to meet on amateur television! Your radio club, like mine, probably has several different interest groups among the membership. These special interest groups support net activities on specific frequency bands, such as 1.9 MHz or about specific activities like ARES.

Yes, amateur radio nets are important to keeping our various communities strong. That is why I am so concerned about keeping the Handiham HF nets on the air. Even though there may be times when there are fewer net participants because of poor band conditions, the fact that people are making the effort to stay in touch is important in and of itself. Nets depend on people taking the time to check in, even if it is only to get on the roster. The entertainer Woody Allen once said, "80% of success is just showing up". I think there is a lot of truth to that. Just show up to check into the Handiham nets, and we will keep working on that other 20%!

For your Handiham World, I'm...

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Center Handiham Manager

Handiham World for 19 November 2008 (2)

Welcome to Handiham World!

"Halt that bad ham radio behavior."

CQ Magazine calls for a new sheriff

CQ Magazine, in the person of editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, a good friend of Handihams, has called for the FCC to stop dragging its feet on amateur radio enforcement. As our readers and listeners know, the FCC's chief enforcer for the Amateur Service, Riley Hollingsworth, has retired and has not been replaced. Rich observes that some pretty dodgy stuff is being heard these days on the HF bands, as the lack of FCC enforcement becomes more and more obvious. Here is the news release from CQ, after which I'll be back for a few comments of my own:

(Hicksville, NY November 18, 2008) -- CQ magazine is calling on FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Kris Monteith to move swiftly to name a successor to Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, as Special Counsel for Amateur Radio, and to bring FCC enforcement back to the ham bands.

Writing in his "Zero Bias" editorial in the December 2008 issue, CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, noted that the Commission not only has failed to name a successor to Hollingsworth, but that not a single amateur enforcement action has been taken since his retirement this past July. At that time, the editorial noted, the amateur radio community was assured that the Commission's dedication to enhanced enforcement in the Amateur Service remains strong. However, the FCC's total inaction since July suggests otherwise.

"This is deeply disturbing and of grave concern," wrote Moseson, adding, "It would be a tragedy, and a travesty, if the FCC were to go back on its promise to be there for us and allowed amateur enforcement to once again drop off the radar."

The need for continuing amateur enforcement was reinforced after the issue went to press when CQ was informed of an outburst of racist diatribes on 20 meters, including the transmission of recordings of a Hitler rally and Nazi marching songs. "This type of behavior was all too common before 'Sheriff' Riley came to town a decade ago," noted Moseson, "and it quickly disappeared once it became obvious that someone in authority was paying attention. But now, only a matter of months since Riley handed in his badge, it has become obvious to these hams that they are once again free to do whatever they please without fear of any consequences."

"The FCC must get back into the amateur enforcement business, and it must do so quickly," says Moseson, "before the situation once again gets out of control. Enforcement Bureau Chief Monteith must act promptly to name a successor to Riley Hollingsworth and assure amateurs that they have not once again been abandoned by the Commission."

You can read the entire W2VU article in accessible PDF on the CQ website.

So what do you think? Have you heard outrageous conduct on the air? What bothers me is that newcomers to short-wave listening will hear this stuff and be turned off - or that word will get around to the general public and lawmakers! This is the sort of thing that can bring down the entire Amateur Radio Service, chipping away at civil discourse and dedication to public service bit by bit. In a moment, we'll hear from Avery, K0HLA, on his memories of short-wave listening. What, I wonder, would have happened if he had heard some of the awful stuff Rich is pointing out on the air back then? Would little kid Avery had even decided to continue listening?

For your Handiham World, I'm...

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Center Handiham Manager
patt@couragecenter.org

Handiham World for 19 November 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

"Halt that bad ham radio behavior."

CQ Magazine calls for a new sheriff

CQ Magazine, in the person of editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, a good friend of Handihams, has called for the FCC to stop dragging its feet on amateur radio enforcement. As our readers and listeners know, the FCC's chief enforcer for the Amateur Service, Riley Hollingsworth, has retired and has not been replaced. Rich observes that some pretty dodgy stuff is being heard these days on the HF bands, as the lack of FCC enforcement becomes more and more obvious. Here is the news release from CQ, after which I'll be back for a few comments of my own:

(Hicksville, NY November 18, 2008) -- CQ magazine is calling on FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Kris Monteith to move swiftly to name a successor to Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, as Special Counsel for Amateur Radio, and to bring FCC enforcement back to the ham bands.

Writing in his "Zero Bias" editorial in the December 2008 issue, CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, noted that the Commission not only has failed to name a successor to Hollingsworth, but that not a single amateur enforcement action has been taken since his retirement this past July. At that time, the editorial noted, the amateur radio community was assured that the Commission's dedication to enhanced enforcement in the Amateur Service remains strong. However, the FCC's total inaction since July suggests otherwise.

"This is deeply disturbing and of grave concern," wrote Moseson, adding, "It would be a tragedy, and a travesty, if the FCC were to go back on its promise to be there for us and allowed amateur enforcement to once again drop off the radar."

The need for continuing amateur enforcement was reinforced after the issue went to press when CQ was informed of an outburst of racist diatribes on 20 meters, including the transmission of recordings of a Hitler rally and Nazi marching songs. "This type of behavior was all too common before 'Sheriff' Riley came to town a decade ago," noted Moseson, "and it quickly disappeared once it became obvious that someone in authority was paying attention. But now, only a matter of months since Riley handed in his badge, it has become obvious to these hams that they are once again free to do whatever they please without fear of any consequences."

"The FCC must get back into the amateur enforcement business, and it must do so quickly," says Moseson, "before the situation once again gets out of control. Enforcement Bureau Chief Monteith must act promptly to name a successor to Riley Hollingsworth and assure amateurs that they have not once again been abandoned by the Commission."

You can read the entire W2VU article in accessible PDF on the CQ website.

So what do you think? Have you heard outrageous conduct on the air? What bothers me is that newcomers to short-wave listening will hear this stuff and be turned off - or that word will get around to the general public and lawmakers! This is the sort of thing that can bring down the entire Amateur Radio Service, chipping away at civil discourse and dedication to public service bit by bit. In a moment, we'll hear from Avery, K0HLA, on his memories of short-wave listening. What, I wonder, would have happened if he had heard some of the awful stuff Rich is pointing out on the air back then? Would little kid Avery had even decided to continue listening?

For your Handiham World, I'm...

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Center Handiham Manager
patt@couragecenter.org

Handiham World for 12 November 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Short-wave is still a big deal... Maybe

I could be listening to the repeater, reading a newspaper, checking out a story online... Sometimes something just pops out at me. This morning, for example, I was checking through my email, and reading through the FCC's daily summary bulletin. One item caught my attention:

"INTERNATIONAL HIGH FREQUENCY Actions Taken Public Notice".

That link was worth following, so I took a look at the document on the FCC website. It turned out to be approval for several religious broadcasters to operate on the HF bands. Googling the callsign of one of them took me to a Wikipedia article that confirmed that the station would be broadcasting near, but outside, our 40 meter band. Whew!

WRNO Radio Worldwide's website makes the following interesting claim:

"Ten short wave radios exist for every cable and satellite TV, Internet address, and satellite radio. This 10 to 1 ratio allows individuals, as well as families to hear broadcasts around the world." The website goes on to state that short-wave is used by governments around the world for international communication.

Now, I got to thinking about those statements, because I have been around the block a few times in this old world, and I seldom accept the first thing I read as, um, "gospel truth", even when it is on a religious broadcaster's website. I know that the typical USA or European radio listener probably has access to more alternatives than ever. Of course the Internet is quite simply taking over what used to be the short-wave broadcasting schedule. Even the staid, old, reliables like the BBC have retired some HF transmitters in favor of Internet streaming audio. No doubt world governments do maintain some short-wave facilities as backup communications for emergencies. I expect that the State Department here in the United States has an interest in a system that remains independent of cables and Internet problems. Other governments probably do, too. But for day to day communications, you can bet that the emails and encrypted audio connections have taken over!

Then there is that statement about the 10 to 1 ratio of short-wave receivers to every cable and satellite TV, Internet address, and satellite radio. The problem is that even though it is likely true in some places in the world, it is tempting for those of us in the USA to assume that others do not have modern communications amenities. Not so! Yesterday I heard a conversation between a couple of USA stations and a station from India on our favorite local EchoLink repeater, the N0BVE machine. The topic turned to putting up TV antennas, and one of the USA stations wondered if a license was required to do so in India. (It should be noted that a license is required in India to own a short-wave communications receiver and to be an SWL.) The station from India replied that no TV antenna license was necessary, but added that cable and direct satellite TV were really more popular than old-fashioned TV antennas. This is just one example of how new technologies are spreading rapidly around the world. I guess I'd assume that short-wave broadcasting is not nearly as effective as the WRNO website claims that it is. Yes, there are a lot of old radios out there, but I think they probably are gathering dust as new technologies sprout up. I think we can take heart that 40 meter and 75 meter broadcast interference will slowly fade away. At least we hope so!

For your Handiham World, I'm...

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Center Handiham Manager
patt@couragecenter.org

Handiham World for 5 November 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

How about that vote?

Say, how about that vote yesterday? It was something historic, all right!

No, not the USA presidential elections... I'm talking about the vote of the Federal Communications Commission yesterday, Nov. 4, to free up the unused airwaves or “white space” between TV channels for use by wireless broadband services. This didn't come without a fight, because broadcasters, TV networks, and stations oppose the use of white space for wireless, fearing that it would interfere with broadcast signals. The proposal first surfaced about four years ago, and it is pretty telling about how this is a sea change in both thinking and technology when you look at who supports the change and who opposes it. On one side, there is the old technology of traditional broadcasters and on the other the new technology of computer companies, software companies, and Internet companies. Under the FCC's new spectrum plan, put forward by FCC chairman Kevin Martin, white space spectrum will be unlicensed and free to anybody who wants to use it.

I think the broadcasters are wrong on the interference issue - and so does the FCC. Of course time will tell, but the promise of wireless spectrum opening up will mean far more options for high-speed Internet access, and I think in the long run that's a good thing for amateur radio operators. It is the marriage of amateur radio applications like EchoLink and remote base station control that will truly transform ham radio as we have known it. Some amateurs are already embracing this technology, while others, mostly in rural areas, do not have high-speed Internet access and have to put up with dial-up.

You just can't do much with dial-up Internet.

Basically, the FCC would let unlicensed devices use the vacant channels, known as white spaces, as long as these devices include anti-interference technology. The way I read it, higher power wireless could then provide Internet access to far wider service areas, making it much more feasible to deliver high speed to these unserved rural areas, and even provide more competition in cities. Microsoft and Google both plan to take advantage of the new spectrum.

Where this opportunity ultimately takes us, one thing is certain: Ham radio operators will be part of the development and evolution of a new way to communicate, whether they are part of the engineering and technology teams working in industry as many do, or whether they are hobbyists writing software or designing better hardware that will take us places we haven't even thought of yet. This is really cool stuff!

For your Handiham World, I'm...

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Center Handiham Manager
patt@couragecenter.org

Handiham World for 29 October 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Image: Pat takes part in a SKYPE audio conference as we move forward on the Handiham Remote Base project.

It's time for another Handiham remote base update! As our regular readers and listeners know, the remote base HF station is up and running in beta test mode. We remain on schedule to begin regular member access in early 2009.

For those of you just learning about this station for the first time, it consists of a Kenwood TS-480SAT, an LDG AT-100 automatic antenna tuner that activates as soon as it senses RF, a G5RV wire antenna, and a Lenovo computer running Windows Vista. The interface to the rig is via a West Mountain Radio RigBlaster.

The station is strategically located in the center of the North American continent at Camp Courage North, where we run our annual Handiham Minnesota Radio Camp. The location is exceptionally RF-quiet, as all power lines in the area are underground. The camp's high-speed Internet connection is more than adequate for all of our control and audio needs.

Last Friday, Handiham volunteers Lyle, K0LR, and Joe, N3AIN, joined me in a conference call with Stan, W4MQ, author of the rig control software that we have installed at the remote base. The purpose of the conference was to address a few small changes to the W4MQ remote base software that will allow easier access by blind users running screenreading software.

Joe, N3AIN, is a blind beta tester who has an excellent understanding of the JAWS screenreader, so his input on how the software interface appears via screenreader access is vital. Some of you will remember that Joe also owns a Kenwood TS-480 himself, and has produced our TS-480 audio tutorials.

Lyle, K0LR, has taken the reins of this project and has installed the station hardware and software. He has been in charge of setting up usernames and passwords for beta testers, and checks the station status daily.

Stan, W4MQ, has kindly taken the time to listen to our comments and will be helping us out in the coming month with some tweaks to the W4MQ software.

The conference took about an hour. We will keep you posted on our progress, but I wanted to make sure you know that we are working for you behind the scenes. Isn't it great when hams get together to help other hams on projects like this one?

It makes me feel good about ham radio! For your Handiham World, I'm...

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Center Handiham Manager
patt@couragecenter.org

Handiham World for 22 October 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Well, well. Here we are listening to the weather forecast and thinking (at least here in Minnesota, in the center of North America) that there is probably no way to fool ourselves into thinking that winter won't arrive as usual this year. It can, and it will.

I'm starting to think about what I call my "Alternate Plan B". Sure it's a little redundant, but what this is all about is having a second way to do things... Namely, to stay on the air all winter in case the weather takes out my antenna. I've already followed my own advice and gotten my antennas into shape for the winter, but you never know. I've set myself up with a wire antenna and a tuner that will pretty much cover all of the HF bands that I normally use. My alternate plan B is a multiband vertical. If the wire antenna comes down in an ice storm, the vertical will remain standing -- I hope. This is just one example of building redundancy into your amateur radio station. If you are on the air long enough, chances are that you have collected more than one HF transceiver and more than one power supply. I have, and to build redundancy into my station all I have to do is flip a couple of switches to bring the spare station online in case there is some failure in my main station. The addition of the handiham remote base at Courage North adds one more way that I could get on the air if I needed to, and we remain on schedule to bring this member resource to members in early 2009. Nonetheless, the remote base suffered a failure over the past weekend, and there is no alternate plan B for that station. I suppose that is all right, since the station is not meant to be anyone's "main" station, but I imagine some members will be in situations where they have no antennas because of restrictions. For them, a second choice would be a different remote base, and the W4MQ software provides for this option, though users have to be registered and approved for the other stations, just as they have to be approved for the handiham remote base.

The concept of Alternate plan B is well known at amateur radio special events and Field Day operation. Generally Murphy will pay a visit at the least opportune times, making it necessary to switch out equipment or quickly string up another temporary antenna system. In fact, I just spoke with Dave, W0OXB, who is planning a special event station at Minnesota's Split Rock Lighthouse. The event recalls the sinking of an iron ore freighter in Lake Superior, the Edmund Fitzgerald. Because the lighthouse is located in northern Minnesota on Lake Superior, you have to have a plan! There is a rumor that the weather in northern Minnesota at the end of October isn't always the best. Keep on reading for that special event news.

For your Handiham World, I'm...

Pat Tice
wa0tda@arrl.net

Handiham World for 15 October 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Under Pat's Hat

What's under Pat's hat today? How about: Sound off!

No, this isn't what you think it is -- it's not an editorial of some kind where I am sounding off about some contentious ham radio issue. It is about sound, specifically computer sound. Let me elaborate.

One of the things computer manufacturers and operating system designers have decided to do for us, the hapless users, is to provide us with all sorts of ways our computer systems can let us know that things are happening. I happen to run Windows Vista, but it could be some other operating system and most of the things that I say in this article will still apply. Virtually every computer made these days, unless it is for some highly specific esoteric use, has a built-in sound system. Software engineers have decided that it would be wonderful to use this sound system as a notification whenever the computer completes a specific task, such as receiving an e-mail message. In the Windows operating system "sound schemes" are a built-in feature but can be customized by the user. If, for example, I wanted the computer to make a pleasant chiming sound whenever an e-mail message came in, I could choose that feature in the sound scheme settings and henceforth every time a message came in, the chime would sound. On my computer, since I can see the screen and do not have to use screen reading software, there is also a visual notification in the system tray when an e-mail message comes in. It's a tiny little envelope. Aw, how cute!

If I want a custom sound, I can either find it somewhere on the Internet or even record my own wave file. I simply open the sound schemes settings and browse to the file I have created, which could be music or spoken word or even a synthesized sound. After that, the sound would signal me whenever the computer did whatever event triggered it.

Now, here's the thing with sound schemes. Turn them off. No, seriously, I mean it.

Unless you really have a need for your computer to signal you with specific sounds, you may find that having your computer make all of these audible signals is more trouble than it's worth. One of the things that I do with my computer is to record audio. If I am recording an audio lecture, the last thing I need is for an e-mail message to come in and have the computer alert me with a sound that interferes with my recording session. But wait, folks... that's not all! Suppose you are an amateur radio operator, using your sound card for some amateur radio purpose, such as EchoLink audio. You are talking with another station and an e-mail arrives at your computer. Ding-ding. You've got Mail. And now the other station to whom you're talking and anyone else connected to that EchoLink node also knows that you have mail. Even worse, if your computer is set to play a musical passage when the e-mail arrives, you would be transmitting music in violation of FCC rules.

Some amateur radio operators have solved this problem by having dedicated ham shack computers that only operate digital modes or EchoLink or do signal processing or what ever it is that needs to be done in the ham shack without interference from other computer duties, such as receiving e-mail. Most of us, however, ask our computers to multitask. The same computer will be used for creating documents, printing the family photos, sending and receiving e-mail, listening to streaming Internet radio, viewing online video, playing music, and yes, ham radio applications. It has become easier than ever to get confused by these multiple applications and send out unwanted audio on the air. What to do?

If you can't set up a dedicated ham shack application computer, it is possible to still tame your sound system and keep unwanted audio off the airwaves. Here are three basics that will save you some aggravation and embarrassment:

1. Go into the Windows control panel, locate the sound schemes, and select the "no sounds" option. Your computer will still be able to produce sound if you want to play a CD in it, listen to a streaming radio station, or listen to an MP3 file. The only thing that happens when you turn off the sounds in the sound scheme settings is that you won't get audible alerts when something happens, such as an e-mail message delivery. This will help you to keep these unexpected noises out of your EchoLink transmissions.

2. Consider purchasing a USB microphone headset. These handy devices can be used to bypass the sound card altogether, and you can set up EchoLink to prefer the USB headset over the sound card, keeping those other unwanted sounds completely confined to the sound card. This can be especially useful when the computer is used by a number of different family members for different purposes.

3. When it is time to operate EchoLink or digital modes with your computer, shut down other applications that may also call for the use of the sound card. That way, you will avoid conflicts and keep unwanted audio off the air.

How does it work? Well, it works great for me in my ham shack, where I have a dedicated ham radio computer that can run an EchoLink node at the same time that I am using a USB headset to communicate via Skype and the Handiham remote base station. If I wanted to, I could also watch a television program on the same computer, since the TV sound is hardware-specific to the PCI TV receiver card. Good grief! How much sound do I need? I guess the correct answer to that question is “just about as much as I need to get the job done", because I could be conceivably using all three of those sound systems on a single computer with no interference between any of them if my EchoLink node were running and at the same time I was checked into an HF net using the remote base while at the same time watching the television feed of the National Weather Service radar. Don't laugh; it could happen!

For your Handiham World, I'm...

Pat Tice
wa0tda@arrl.net

Handiham World for 8 October 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Remote base update: The Kenwood software is out; W4MQ is in

The Handiham Remote Base station beta testing is continuing at a good pace, and we are certainly getting educated on why it is necessary to have a testing period before going "live" as a member service!

Let's bring you up to date.

We started out in late August with the installation, taking advantage of the already-scheduled Handiham Radio Camp, when Lyle, K0LR, and I would already be at the station location Courage North. The radio, computer, and all associated equipment were funded by a generous gift from Kerry Flavours (thanks to K2OMQ for his help), and we were able to coordinate the purchase and delivery of the equipment in such a way that Lyle, K0LR, could pre-install some of the necessary software and get things working as much as possible before the trip to Courage North. Since the station would be a considerable distance from a metropolitan area, we had to made sure that we had planned for as many contingencies as possible. There isn't a Radio Shack store just down the block when you are far into the north, in Minnesota's woods and lake country! On the other hand, the location chosen for the station has the necessities that will make it work for us:

1. It is in a very quiet location, far from overhead power lines. All power lines in the area are underground. All wiring at the camp itself is underground.

2. Courage North has a T-1 Internet line, capable of high bandwidth use.

3. Courage North is the site of our Handiham Radio Camp, which allows us to use the station as a teaching tool. Since its location at camp is pretty far from the other antennas, the remote base can operate with less interference to and from the other stations at camp.

4. Tom, KB0FWQ, lives at Courage North year-round.

5. Bill, N0CIC, who helped us with the station installation, lives close by.

6. We have an excellent location for the station in the attic of the camp's dining hall, which will ultimately be the location for the entire T-1 line interface.

Since everything seemed to be coming together nicely, Lyle proceeded to introduce the radio campers to the new radio and the computer interface prior to the actual installation in the dining hall. Later on in the week, we recruited Handiham volunteer Bill, N0CIC, to help us with the installation of the G5RV antenna. The computer was set up along with the radio, rig interface, LDG tuner, and feedline with a gas-discharge lightning arrestor. Lyle had to configure the system to be able to "handshake" with the Internet system, with all that entails. Thankfully we have a static IP address with the T-1 line. And even more thankfully, Lyle understands how to make this stuff work. Our volunteers are quite simply the best!

Following Radio Camp, we entered the beta test phase. Lyle and I are able to access the station computer by remote control, making it possible to configure the software and add users, administrate computer updates, and so forth. We began with the assumption that the Kenwood rig control software would most likely serve our needs. We had tested the user interface software by Kenwood, which is called ARCP-480. It seemed to be very accessible to screen reader users and the interface was easy to understand. On the remote base control computer the Kenwood program called ARHP-10 had to be running so that users could log on.

So far, so good. We proceeded to recruit and add beta testers, and we were getting some good feedback about the station from them. Then something unexpected happened. We had 10 users and could not add an eleventh user. It turned out that the Kenwood control software running on the remote base computer would only accept a maximum of 10 users, something that did not appear to be documented anywhere in the help file. An e-mail exchange with Kenwood confirmed the limitation. Clearly, this software would not serve as our final installation, because we could not confine the user base to only 10!

Fortunately, Stan, W4MQ, has written some excellent rig control software for remote base use. Even better, Stan's software can be configured for users with different privileges based on license class. This can help us administrate the station to stay within FCC rules, as well as helping users to stay within their license class privileges. We had to make the shift to the W4MQ software, which we did last week. Beta testers were informed of the change, and this week we have posted some new instructions on the handiham members only website under the remote base link.

We will be refining these pages as time goes on, but handiham members are encouraged to go ahead and take a look at the remote base pages and download the software so that they will be ready when we get out of beta test phase. In the meantime, if you want to take a look at Google Earth and see exactly where the station is located, go to our website for a link to the Google Earth location.

You must have Google Earth installed on your computer for this file to work.

I know this whole business of a remote base controlled by the Internet sounds complicated and confusing to some of you, but we are working hard to get the bugs out of the system and make it more user-friendly. I hope that by early 2009 we will be able to have the station available in several different ways for members to enjoy. Thanks to our donors, who support the work that we do, our volunteers whose patience and dedication to helping handiham members get on the air to make the program work, and to our members who continue to amaze me with their kindness and willingness to help us in every way possible.

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Handiham Manager

Handiham World for 1 October 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Blank Sun continues - "Blankest sun of the space age" - frustrates ham radio operators

Image credit: SOHO/MDI

After a brief "tease" of a small sunspot appearance last week, the sun is once again completely blank as we end the month of September. Ham radio operators around the world have eagerly anticipated the start of the next solar cycle after what has seemed like a really, really long solar minimum. There was hope aplenty back on 4 January 2008, when the first sunspot of new cycle 24 appeared.

Although seasoned radio operators will know all of this, a visit to Wikipedia gives the new ham some background on why the 11 year solar cycle is important to amateur radio:

"Solar flares also create a wide spectrum of radio noise; at VHF (and under unusual conditions at HF) this noise may interfere directly with a wanted signal. The frequency with which a radio operator experiences solar flare effects will vary with the approximately 11-year sunspot cycle; more effects occur during solar maximum (when flare occurrence is high) than during solar minimum (when flare occurrence is very low). A radio operator can experience great difficulty in transmitting or receiving signals during solar flares due to more noise and different propagation patterns. However, sunspots can greatly increase the distances achieved on certain bands, and so are useful to radio amateurs. This is because the sunspots strengthens the ionosphere, and cause less radio waves to pass through and therefore increases propagation."

As we can see from the preceding quote, the appearance of more sunspots and the buildup of solar flare activity go hand in hand. While this may seem like a mixed blessing to a ham radio newbie who has never experienced a solar maximum, those of us who have operated through one will never forget the extraordinary benefits:

The 10 meter band comes alive, making it possible to work worldwide DX with low power, sometimes only a few Watts and very simple antennas.

The other high frequency bands are open, too, sometimes into the evening. 15 meters is a joy, because there is plenty of spectrum and a great north-south DX path. We could even start using 17 meters again, reviving the non-net Handiham get-together started during the last solar maximum by Alan Davis, K2WS, who has a big signal from Long Island.

And because there is more usable spectrum during solar maximum, some of the DX pressure comes off the often-crowded 20 meter band. 75 and 40 meters remain useful throughout the solar cycle, but some operators who usually hang out on those bands will move up in frequency to 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands. There may even be somewhat of a migration from two meters and the EchoLink system as hams rush to get on the world-wide DX bands.

That is the kind of excitement and fun a solar maximum can deliver. So if you are new ham wondering what the old timers are waiting for with long faces while we experience a blank sun, now you know! There will never be a better time to take on challenges like WAS (Worked All States), DXCC, and multiband DXCC. C'mon sun!

Update! NASA Science News for September 30, 2008 reported that astronomers who count sunspots have announced that 2008 has become the "blankest year" of the Space Age. Sunspot counts are at a 50-year low, signifying a deep minimum in the 11-year cycle of solar activity.

Handiham World for 24 September 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Don't count Morse code down & out just yet!

Yes, yes, we've all heard about how Morse is completely outdated and should be hidden away like that crazy old uncle who lives in the attic. But once in awhile we are reminded that code is still a viable mode of operation, and can even be pretty handy in an emergency. Just such a scenario unfolded last Sunday in the rugged terrain of Glacier National Park in Montana, in a mountain pass where cell phone service is problematic, if it exists at all. A look at a map of Glacier shows winding roads, and plenty of places where there are no roads at all. If you look at a map of Kansas, you see straight roads, because there are no mountains in that mostly flat state. People who live in mountainous territory learn quickly that VHF and UHF signals cannot be counted upon to travel great distances as they do in Kansas! HF signals, on the other hand, can make the trip over hills and mountains, bouncing off the ionosphere to come down hundreds of miles away. In recent years, portable HF transceivers have become popular backpacking rigs, and can accompany hikers on wilderness trips without weighing them down. A length of wire to throw over a tree can serve as an easy and effective antenna. Sideband can be a bit of a challenge with these portable QRP rigs, but CW (Morse) is a natural, since it is a very effective low-power mode. Read the following story and then get out that code practice oscillator!

Ham radio to the rescue - Morse code message gets through

Morse code and a small, portable, battery-operated transmitter came in pretty handy for a man with a broken leg in Glacier Park. The accident happened in Buck Creek Pass east of Glacier Peak.

According to the HeraldNet news, "Six hundred miles away in Bozeman, Montana, Robert Williams was testing his ham radio Sunday when he heard the call signal W-7-A-U."

A man in the hiking party had broken his leg and needed help. Williams followed through with a call to authorities for assistance.

Handiham World for 17 September 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Report from Texas - Damage from Ike extends far inland

We got hit hard; 300 miles from coast, and still got clobbered.

About 80% power still out - some will be out up to 90 days. Running most street light signals off generators or welding machines with power plants. Mine’s been running at home since Friday night. All EOC’s on generators – hospitals, too.

I rode around with the fire chief, I’ve never before seen power poles just jerked out of the ground; even the steel ones were broken off at ground level.

It gets worse the further south you go. All power is out within 60 miles of the coast.

Got to get back to work with the county police and fire so we don’t run out of people. 7 A.M. Saturday to 7 A.M. Sunday we ran fire, EMS, calls power lines down -- you name it, it came in!

Ken, WB5UYJ

Thanks to Ken for that report. I purposely put his news up front to remind those readers and listeners who were not in the path of the enormously destructive storm called "Ike" just how bad and how extensive the damage was... and still is! In fact, damage from the storm extended well into the Midwest, with flooding and power outages in places like Illinois and Kentucky. I heard from relatives in Louisville that they will be out of power for days due to all of the storm damage. This morning I heard from a handiham member in Houston, Texas, where power is still out. She contacted a mailing list of friends via the Internet, because her phone and DSL service had come back to life. Even so, if she had not been prepared with a portable generator to run the computer equipment, she would not have been able to send out her message. She did lament how she wished that her ham radio station had been better organized and prepared.

Last night I watched on the TV news and saw the long lines of cars clogging the freeways of South Texas as people tried to return to the coast to assess the damage to their homes and businesses. I was somewhat surprised at this, because my understanding is that there is so little infrastructure left in places like Galveston that people are still trying to get out. It is a terrible situation that will take a very long time to straighten out. It is also a cautionary tale for amateur radio operators who have not really been too careful about preparing "go kits" for their own personal use during such emergencies. Remember, a well-planned go kit can be useful for yourself and your immediate family as well as for assisting in a public service communications capacity. Having a radio and extra batteries along with you in the car or on the bus as you are evacuated from the danger zone could come in very handy indeed. We have all heard of situations where cars have stalled or run out of fuel on the jammed interstate highways during an emergency evacuation.

In an emergency, especially a widespread one like a hurricane, police, fire, and medical response cannot be counted upon in the same way that we do in normal times. A radio and charged batteries will at least provide an alternative means of communication that could be a life-saver. Here in Minnesota, we seldom have enormous weather events of such a destructive nature, but we do get widespread blizzards and much more localized destructive storms like tornadoes. While the immediate response may be different since evacuation from a huge metropolitan area is not likely for those events, the go kit is still a vital part of our amateur radio emergency planning.

Large-scale terrorist attacks are not out of the question. While no major world metropolitan area has yet experienced such an attack requiring a mass evacuation, if such a thing did have to take place it would be vital to have a working go kit so that you could use an alternative form of communications. As I have stated before, cellular phones cannot be counted upon in wide-area emergencies. The reason is that the cellular system is designed with limited capacity that assumes not all users will try to make calls at the same time. In a wide-area emergency situation, people are likely to pick up their phones to check in with relatives and friends. Even a relatively localized disaster here in the Twin Cities area, the Interstate 35 bridge collapse, caused significant congestion of the cellular phone system. Can you imagine what would happen to the cellular system in a much bigger, more widespread disaster situation? Your amateur radio equipment might turn out to be the only practical way to communicate!

Emergency responders learn something very important in their training: how to deal with complacency. While some of us are better at learning than others, everyone is affected by complacency. A perfect example of how we become complacent is that we go a long happily for many years without having to deal with a disaster, in the meantime failing to keep our radio equipment in good working order, failing to keep our go kits up to date, failing to have a family plan for dealing with emergencies, failing to stock extra water and batteries, and so on. It is really hard work to fight complacency. Things have gone well for so long that we simply assume the rest of today, tomorrow, the next day, and the next week will all go just as perfectly well.

That may not be the case. I'm not telling you to worry all the time, but I am telling you that you need to be prepared. And the best way amateur radio operators can be prepared is to follow the basic philosophy of having equipment that is ready to go, even in an emergency and even on short notice.

Patrick Tice
wa0tda@arrl.net
Handiham Manager

Handiham World for 10 September 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Photo: TS-480 remote base at Courage North

Our remote base project continues to work well and we are learning as we go and are making refinements. We are that much closer to bringing the system on line as a member service. The latest is that members logging in on the members only website will find "Remote Base" in the menu links, which can be followed to learn about how to install and set up the software, who will be considered for user status, and so on.

User status will be initially be restricted to a small group of beta testers. We need to do this to work out the bugs in the system and to give us time to make the system as user-friendly as possible. This Handiham Radio Club station will then enter a "beta 2" testing phase, during which I will need several Handiham members with excellent computer skills and plenty of operating experience to join the testing group. Once we complete the beta 2 phase, we will then add qualified users.

The question will certainly come up about who is a qualified user, right? I know that most everyone feels that they know how to be a good operator, but running the remote base is a little different - well, really a LOT different - than talking on a two meter handheld radio or even running an HF radio that is sitting on the desk in front of you. I welcome your comments on this topic, which you may send directly to wa0tda@arrl.net.

To jump start the discussion, I would ask you to think about and comment on the following:

• Our first operators will have to hold their Extra Class licenses. I don't want to exclude competent General or Advanced licensees, but we are going to be looking at more experienced hams who will know the rules and be able to act as competent control ops.
• These users will have to be able to follow directions, install the software, and pretty much figure out things for themselves if they are going to be successful as remote base operators. The last thing we need as we get this project started is a lot of tech support questions about stuff that everyone should already know, like how to operate their computers and what the band edges are!
• There are also requirements about the user's Internet connection and computer hardware. Users must own and control their own computers, and not try to use a public computer like a school or library machine. The system requires a high-speed Internet connection. It will not work with a dial up Internet connection. The computer must be running Windows XP or Vista.

We are looking forward to a great new member resource that can open up the world of short-wave amateur radio operation to people who cannot have large antennas. Let us know what you think about how we are getting started, and please make suggestions as to how we can train our newer hams to use this technology responsibly.

Patrick Tice
wa0tda@arrl.net
Handiham Manager

Handiham World for 03 September 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

My wife Susie and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary today. What a fine and patient lady she is for putting up with my ham radio hobby all these years!

Since I am out of the office today, we will go right ahead with Avery's QTH, and we plan to return with the usual audio lectures in this Friday's educational mailing.

Patrick Tice
wa0tda@arrl.net
Handiham Manager

---

Welcome once again to my Humble QTH:

Minnesota Radio Camp, in the tall Pines, is now over for another year. What a camp this was. Many of the people who were just a voice on the radio were right there in person talking to each other and having meals with each other. It was so peaceful and quiet in the early mornings and late in the evenings that one could hear the Loon out on the lake and the raccoons fighting over some fish they caught. Above, high in the sky ,circled an eagle. The mist burning off the lake made it look as if we were on some science fiction planet in Star Trek or some other Science fiction show. During the day time , however, it was a different story as the radios were running full blast and the classrooms were going strong with people learning Amateur Radio to get or up-grade a license. For those with a license there were operational skills classes to learn proper procedures on the air. For practice we checked into both the PICONET on 80 meters and the Handiham net on the N0BVE repeater ( Node 89680 ) every day using Echolink. People on both nets were nice enough to let us take over as net control so everyone in operational skills class had several turns at being net control. It would be very safe to say that everyone in the operational skills class will feel right at home checking into their local net when they get home or even taking over as net control if necessary.

One of the interesting activities that took place was a "Fox Hunt" Two transmitters were hidden by our camp engineer, Lyle, K0LR, and people attempted to find them. Well, to make a long story short, no one located them. Lyle did too good of a job of hiding them. People were very close at times and must have gone by them several times with out locating them. There were some odd signal bounces off cars and other objects which made it a bit confusing as to where the actual transmitters were.

Even though sometimes the wind was causing some rough water and the boat captains kept the boats in there were times when the winds died down and the boats were out on the lake. Ah! The Icom IC-718 on the pontoon boat was used on 80 and 20 meters. They even checked into the PICONET on 3925 and became a net first. It was a first time a boat checked into the net. And! to top that off the boat even talked to the people in the operational skills class on HF. VHF was used before.

For a break some people took a field trip over to Itasca State Park (about 15 miles away ) to visit the Headwaters of the Mighty Mississippi River. The water is only about ankle-deep and you can walk across it in about 4 or 5 steps. It is very clear and clean at that point. The bottom can be easily seen. Also, some of the group went into the town of Lake George to look around and purchase items to take back home.

Can't believe some of the talent of some of the Amateurs at camp. In the evening, for example, we had our own guitar and piano concerts.

For those that wanted we had go to people to teach the Kenwood TH-F6A , TM-V71A, and the TS-2000.

The week just seemed to fly by and before you know it it was the last full day of camp and time for the VE's to give those that wanted it the exams.

Until next time 73 es DX de K0HLA Avery

You can reach me at: avery.finn@courage.org

Or call my direct line at 763-520-0515.

Handiham World for 28 August 2008

Welcome to Handiham World!

Photo: Pat, WA0TDA, with headset microphone

Here we are, a day late with your weekly edition of Handiham World. Yesterday in the very early morning hours we experienced a real fireworks show in the sky over Courage North: a lightning storm that dropped buckets of rain. When I awakened and wandered over to the computer, I quickly discovered that the Internet connection was not working. That, of course, meant that I could not produce your weekly e-letter as usual. It turned out that our T1 line had failed and that a representative from the service provider had to make repairs. By the time the repairs were completed in the afternoon, I had already gotten on the road and my only window for producing the content had closed.

Nonetheless, I did want to say a few words about the week at Handiham Radio Camp. Overall, we had a very successful week. In typical Minnesota fashion, I would describe the few problems we ran into as, "could be worse".

Several days were rather windy, limiting our waterfront activities. When the wind died down, we were able to get two pontoon boats out onto the lake for maritime mobile operation. One of the boats was equipped with an ICOM IC-718 station, which was operated on 75 and 20 m. Both boats also operated on our 2 m simplex Echolink node frequency, allowing campers to connect to virtually anywhere through the worldwide network of connected stations.

Another project was the handiham remote base HF station. This went even better than I expected, with Lyle Koehler, K0LR, doing the engineering work to set up a Lenovo computer with the Kenwood software necessary to host the remote base and to connect and set up the Kenwood TS-480 radio and all associated pieces of equipment. We even managed to do a "dry run" of the system in our Extra Class Seminar, where campers were able to check it out and test the accessibility features of both the Kenwood radio and the software. Although I intend to write more about the wonderful TS-480 in some future edition, I do have to say that we are thrilled with Kenwood's attention to accessibility features. Likewise, the control software that users will run on their home computers to access the remote base is very accessible with screen reading programs like JAWS. Once the campers had a chance to do some hands-on with the station, Lyle and I transferred it to its permanent location in an attic room above Courage North's dining hall. The reason for this location is that it puts the radio in close proximity with the necessary computer networking equipment and also allows us to keep the antenna a bit further away from other antennas that are installed at Courage North. Bill, N0CIC, helped Lyle and I get the antenna into the air in flattop configuration. Bill is truly an expert with a wrist rocket slingshot that he has modified for wire antenna installations! The antenna is a G5RV that will tune 80 through 10 m. As with other G5RV installations, we found that we had to add additional coaxial cable to make the antenna tune in the phone band on 75. We have decided not to use the internal tuner on the Kenwood radio. Instead, we have installed an LDG auto tuner designed to tune instantly as soon as its senses RF. This removes one complication for users, who won't have to bother tuning an antenna.

The remote base station now enters what we are calling a "beta one test phase". A few tech-savvy users will operate the station and provide us with feedback about any problems they run into. In mid--September, Lyle and I will return to the station location to iron out hardware problems, should any crop up. We also plan to put the computer on an uninterruptible power supply and a surge protector at that time. Based on what we discover during beta testing, I will write a user manual. Of course all of this will take some time, but we will give you frequent updates in your Weekly Handiham World.

One interesting aspect of radio camp is simply hearing from campers whether or not they enjoyed the week. Spontaneous comments are always more accurate because they come from the heart -- at least that's my theory! I heard over and over again that people were having fun and they were wondering when the next camp would be. Several commented about the transportation to and from Camp, which we have to admit was not the best this year. Unbeknownst to us, the bus company that serves the nearby town of Bemidji, Minnesota, changed their schedule. That meant that we did not have a bus service that would serve campers on Wednesday. The alternative, airline transportation from the Twin Cities, nearly doubled in price from the previous year. Clearly we have to figure out some better options for 2009. Of course airline transportation is getting expensive no matter where you go or what your airline of choice happens to be simply because fuel costs are being passed on to the traveling public. I suspect that the high cost of diesel fuel also was behind the change in the commercial bus schedule. Fuel and travel costs are likely to have an impact on other amateur radio activities like ham fests and conventions. Amateur radio operators are problem solvers by their very nature, so it will be interesting to see how hams solve this problem! Anyway, we are looking at a somewhat different camp schedule in 2009, and we will have more information at a later date.

When you get a large number of amateur radio operators together in one place and ask them to program their radios, you find out pretty quickly how many of us need a little bit of help. Radio camp always involves things like hidden transmitter hunts, operating on unusual simplex frequencies, and then returning radios to their former state so that campers can use them as usual when they get back home. It sure is easy to forget how to run a radio when you don't change the settings all that often. I have fond memories of an emergency training exercise conducted at my local radio club where almost none of us could program every function on our portable radios that was needed for the exercise. It certainly reminds me that I need to pick up my radio from time to time and go through at least a few of the basic procedures.

Well, I am supposed to be on vacation, so I am going to make this a rather short newsletter.

Patrick Tice
wa0tda@arrl.net
Handiham Manager