There are several websites that will allow you to take tests and gauge your readiness for the real thing, including:

• Ham Test Online,
• QRZ.Com,
• eHam.net, and
• AA9PW FCC Amateur Radio Practice Pages

Only the latter seems to have practice code tests, though. Since the code test is currently one of the biggest hurdles new hams have to face, I want to thank AA9PW for making this available. I used a practice test last night with my General class and it worked very nicely.

I recently corresponded briefly with a guy on the Elecraft mailing list about his difficulty in understanding antennas. As I’ve pointed out in the past, I’m no expert, but my purchase of an antenna analyzer has certainly helped, and I advised him to also buy one. He replied that he did have one, but…

One of the nice things about teaching the General class is that I actually learn a few things from time to time. For example, last Tuesday, we covered RF safety, a topic that was definitely not on the test when I took my General class test 30 odd years ago. In order to adequately explain the topic to my charges, I had to do some quick boning up of my own.

For the last week, there’s been three or four big pileups on 30m every evening. (It may be the same on other bands, but I pretty much stick to 30m lately). The pileups are so big and spread out that between them and the weird QRM on the band, there’s practically no room for “normal” QSOs.

Why the pileups?

You may have noticed that many CW geeks have a big collection of CW sending implements, including straight keys, bugs, and paddles. I’ve felt like a piker because up till now all I had was a straight key and the Bencher BY-1 paddle.

Well, all that’s changed now. I now am the proud owner of a AZ ScQRPions/W5JH Paddle. This paddle was designed by Jerry Haigwood and is sold by the AZ SQRPions club. It comes in kit form and only costs $25.

I just finished processing the latest batch of QSL cards from the FISTS QSL Bureau. In this last batch, there were two cards from stations whose calls spelled words. That kind of amused me, so I thought I’d plow through the pile of cards I have here to see how many other QSLs I had from stations whose calls spelled words. Here’s what I found:

While browsing the eHam forums this afternoon I came upon an item with links to websites that have recordings of the sounds of various digial modes. These pages are great if you’re thinking about getting on digital and want to try copying some signals before jumping into it all the way.

Tuesday evening, Tom Bray WB8COX graciously volunteered (without too too much arm-twisting on my part) to give our club a talk on operating the satellites. Tom has been working them for quite some time, and he put together a very informative talk, including some sample audio. (I plan to post his slides as soon as he sends them to me.)

Of course, now I want to work the satellites. I probably won’t, of course. I just don’t have the time to do everything, but it’s a cool thing to think about, anyway.

The Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library hold a sale every Saturday and Sunday (except during the summer). According to their web page, the Friends resell more than 100,000 books a year. I used to go nearly every weekend, until my bookcases couldn’t hold any more books. I still go there from time to time, but I’m much more selective now as to what I buy.

Yesterday, I called CQ on 30m, and a station came back to me. He was sending kind of slowly, but that’s OK. I’m happy to work guys just getting their feet wet.

Unfortunately, this guy stumbled a bit sending my call the first time, tried it again and made another mistake, then disappeared altogether.