Archive for 2006/02


PIO Tools Available on CD-ROM

From Allen Pitts, W1AGP, ARRL Media and PR Manager:
The Swiss Army Knife for PIOs 2006 edition is available on CD and now there’s also a copy on the internet.
The ‘Knife is a collection of the most used tools, files, and ideas from PIOs around the country. It is the “go to first” place for [...]

Tech Books Online

Pete Millet’s website, Technical Books Online is a repository of books published from the 1920s through the 1960s. Pete says:
I’ve found that most of the technical books published before about 1964 never had their copyrights renewed, so now are in the public domain. So I am endeavoring to digitize and post some selected books [...]

One Reason I Love the Net

I love the Net. Not only does it allow me to spout off on all kinds of amateur radio topics, it gets me the things I need quickly.
For example, I recently purchased a Buxcomm Rascal sound card - radio interface from a guy over the Internet. I received it today, but there was no manual. [...]

How to operate Pedestrian Mobile with the KX1

As those of you who read this blog know, I’m the proud builder/owner of an Elecraft KX-1. Below, courtesy of Paul, W0RW, is a message he posted to the Elecraft mailing list. I can’t wait until it gets warm enough outside to try this….Dan

The KX1 is a great portable rig but it is also a [...]

A Parent’s Guide, Revisited

So, here’s the text I have so far. As always, comments, questions, compliments, and complaints are welcome…
A Parent’s Guide to Amateur Radio
What is amateur (ham) radio?
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is a hobby enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of Americans and millions around the world. They enjoy communicating with one another via two-way [...]

Minnesota QSO Party 2006

A week ago Saturday, I worked the Minnesota QSO Party. Fortunately, I’m in a sweet spot for working Minnesota on 40m. Coupled with good band conditions, that made working this year’s MNQP a lot of fun.
Here are the vital statistics:

Operating time: 5 hours, 55 minutes
Totals Qs: 89
Counties worked: 53 out of 87
Mode: All contacts [...]

Three A Day, Revisited

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I try to make three contacts a day. So, how am I doing? Well, a couple of weeks ago (on January 24, 2006, to be exact), I noticed that I completed the 4000th QSO since I’ve been using a computer logbook.
Now, my first QSO in the [...]

A Parent’s Guide to Ham Radio

Last week, I received an e-mail from a middle school teacher here in Ann Arbor. She had heard about SuitSat and wanted someone to come and talk to her class about it and about amateur radio in general. I did this Monday. Unfortunately, by Monday morning the signal from SuitSat was too weak for me [...]

A New Year, A New General Class

The 2006 version of my General Class license course started this week. It’s a much smaller class this year. Instead of the 28 that signed up last year, I have only four in the class. It’s too bad that I don’t have more, but with the smaller class I can help each student individually.
It also [...]

A New SWL Magazine

Here’s news of a new SWL magazine in Great Britain. More power to them!
A new radio listener magazine is being published in the UK by Nice One Publishing Ltd. With the full title of Radio and Communications MONITORING MONTHLY, and the ISSN 1749 – 7809. The magazine covers all aspects of listening including world-wide [...]