Contest Award

Can’t argue with success, at least that’s what I’ve always heard. I found an unexpected envelope from the ARRL in the mailbox yesterday. It is time to renew, but they generally send those reminders with bulk mail – this was a First Class envelope – Do Not Bend ! Come to find out it is a Contest Award : Single Op Low Power, Alabama Section, 2009 ARRL June VHF QSO Party = Winner ! 222 MHz… Must have been

Seen any Red Balloons ?

This is not an alien invasion, but it could be……

DARPA Network Challenge balloons are ready

In celebration of the Internet’s 40th anniversary, DARPA has initiated the DARPA NEtwork Challenge. All we gotta do is find these 10 red balloons – the catch is that they could be anywhere in the continental US. Our secret weapon is the internet and our ability to communicate and coordinate. One of our Amateur Radio High Altitude Balloon (ARHAB) groups has registered a team, and is actively soliciting your reports. Find out more details about the Balloonatics via Bill Brown’s website http://www.wb8elk.com. You can submit a report to the Balloonatics group by sending your report to redballoonchallenge@gmail.com … (of course you need to include Longitude and Latitude, and a photo if possible).
More links :
http://twitter.com/DARPA_News
http://redballoon.wikispaces.com/Groups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Balloonatics/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GPSL/
http://www.superlaunch.org/

Thanks /;^)

September VHF contesting

We all know that the only radio contesting I ever participate in is the VHF contests… and even then it is only to see if I can beat my previous score. It certainly is not to impress my wife. With ‘in-attic‘ antennas I’m about the only one I can beat. I’m actually pretty pleased with these antennas tho, because I don’t have to twist a rotator back and forth, and I can work just about anyone that I can hear. Sometimes I hear things the other guys don’t, cause they are pointed off to the side or something. Often omni-directional antennas get a bad rap, but they do have their advantages. I had some preamps on there last year, but then I could hear folks that can’t hear me. I do rely on other folks that have big antennas on tall towers with serious power for my DX. Still tho I really enjoy having so many stations on for a good weekend of VHF. Again this contest, we had a local ARES Simplex Exercise Saturday afternoon, to bring out a few more operators, and introduce them to the world of VHF without repeaters. Pretty good participation !

I don’t have a lot of space in my shack, and share the desk with my computer stuff.

the Radio side of my desk

Several years back I built these desk-boxes to hold the radio gear, thinking they would be

Sept VHF QSO Party

Don’t forget the annual September VHF QSO Party runs from 1pm Saturday to 10pm Sunday (CDT) this weekend. Lots of fun meeting up with old and new friends in the region. Check the rules and other details on the ARRL website. The Alabama ARES group is also conducting a Simplex Exercise Saturday from 2-6 pm CDT, so don’t forget to listen on those FM frequencies as well for some extra contacts. Maybe we’ll get some new VHF contesters. If you scroll down further, you can see an example from the propagation map that NG0E generates from the APRS-IS beacon data-base. This is helpful to recognize where the signals might be strongest. Even if you are not into the contest for competition, it is a valuable exercise to see how well your equipment is operating. The rest of us will appreciate the additional contacts – so join in !
Enjoy /;^)