... it is not late if we are serious
Another month has gone by from the last post and it is not that there is nothing in ham radio to blog about, but I do not wish to say anything about certain aspects of ham radio that some might say has caused them to become reactive.
You know how some people are, and can get, when they are looking for an excuse to escape from the scrutiny. I think enough time have gone by and I can talk freely and without favor again, and do not expect to upset anyone. I am not planning to muddy any waters, but some people does watch the crystal clear water and say it look muddy to them. Let us hope that by now they have 'clear eyes' and do not seek to retard, hinder or slow down any forward mobility that exist, as we all try to break free from the depressive grasp that seeks to encourage most of us to call it quits. If you think you are dead, you are dead.
Some of us tolerate and endure a lot of bull crap every day. I have developed a certain immunity to the crap. I just ignore it, irrespective of who it may come from. When you get to be a senior citizen, I suspect that you do not wish to favor fools gladly, nor wish to waste your time unproductively. I guess we old guys have to be more tolerant to the bull crappers, because for the most times they are not being funny or unrealistic, but genuinely ignorant, as in devoid of a particular stream of knowledge, so it is incumbent upon us to slow down, maybe step down off our pedestal, and offer some measure of understanding, counsel and guidance.
But sometimes that causes more heartache, given the attitude and disposition of the persons addressed. So plan C is implemented, and per that instruction, they are "left severely alone". In our thinking today, this is totally unacceptable, but a search of historical documents may reveal that is the prescribed treatment administered to people with that disease. The prescription will not cause any young organisation to mash up, or any entity that is making a comeback to slow down or capitulate, but instead will firm the resolve of serious persons to ensure that the goal, which should be clearly defined is achieved, within and even before the targeted time limit.
These are days and times when serious people and plans are needed to achieve success. It is not about wishful thinking. Plans and programs that are practical and workable are the order of the day. Not some pie-in-the-sky, hair-brained, schemes, that are thought up and not thought through. At the end of the day it must have real community benefit, not to benefit the mover of the bill alone, but it must be of real benefit to the organisation, as a whole, in short, medium or long term. There is no such thing as stupid or silly ideas or suggestions. Some of us make that most serious mistake by rejecting the words from the "least of the apostles" while if we take time to understand and see where that thought is coming from, we could very well discover it to be the idea most crucial to our entities survival and longevity.
The ham radio society in V4 is up for their monthly meeting shortly and I am expecting great things from them. I see this executive term as a rebirth and will compare it closely with the society's inception of 12th April 1973. The mathematics is a bit screwed because we should have had this rebirth between 1998 and 2006, so we are running late and behind ... but better late than never. Given the time frame for the rebirth [1998-2006] we should have had ham radio entrants that were born between 1965 and 1991. On the old timers side hams born between 1965 to 1973 and on the youthful side hams born between 1983 and 1991. Since we have missed that window by 5-years maybe we could just move all those dates up 5-years and we could be good to go for 2011.
So if I am anyway near right, the hams today that will make this organisation fly, are those old timers who were born between 1970 to 1978 and the youthful hams born between 1989 to 1996. So we should expect most from the hams born between 1970 to 1996. But ham radio is not straight forward like that and we may very well need the real old timers and very senior hams to help make this rebirth fly. This is one time that we need all hands on deck. I notice some folks are withdrawn, and I expect that they could suffer from a withdrawal, given the medication they could be taking, but it is incumbent upon all of us to touch base and communicate with every other ham in our Federation, and it has nothing to do with being a member of the radio club in Nevis or the radio society in St Kitts. I would not venture to say that maybe this 'club' thing is mashing us up, because clubs are supposed to bring people together and harmonize.
I hear we have some proposed legislation that I think is unacceptable in these times and I will have my say when it is released for public consumption. These are modern times and we need to be realistic and encouraging and accommodating. This is not 1973 and even back then we were not that brash, and I hope it is not an emulation of the "Bryant" clause constitution. Anyway more times for that.
The new hams radio operators have taken to the air waves, even better than some of us did some 40 and more years ago. In 1968 when I got my license there was no 2-meter VHF activity for hams. It was all HF, 3-30 MHz., code, voice and some of what we now call the digital modes. Now the new hams, if they are interested, will develop an interest in HF and make one of the biggest decisions in their ham radio career. Deciding on which brand of ham radio equipment to place on their operating table. Of greater significance than the bench equipment may be the antenna which determines how they hear and how they are heard on the other side of the planet, where they have sunlight while we are still in the dark. Over the years I have seen countless radio stations with top of the line equipment and a bull crap antenna, that does not allow them to make contacts over 1000 miles away.
I am only interested in contacts as far away from V4 as possible. Therefore I need a vertically polarized antenna. The lowest take off angle for my money. Propagation on every ham band and frequency is different so a refresh on propagation for the interested frequency and band is necessary. I am now stuck on 40-meters. If I chased after DX contacts in the day I would re-install my 5-element-wide spaced 15-meter Hy-Gain beam, or get a new 12-meter bean, or even a 20-meter 4-element beam or a log periodic antenna tuning continuously from 14 MHz to 30 MHz. But when I DX it is 'my' night, and on 40-meters a home made array is all that is needed, and the ARRL Antenna Handbook could prove useful, but in my opinion the authoritative works of ON4UN in his Low Band DX Handbook provides all the info and data that a new ham really needs. My 80-meter antenna is very similar to this one found here, and it is the best one I have used so far in my 43+ years of ham radio. I think this is a good starting point for new DXing ham radio operators.
This antenna can be built for pennies, but similar commercial designs are available for the hams with the cash. Our local problem may be unavailability of aluminium tubing for construction, but there are many innovative options, and you know we can be innovative. To connect antenna to the radio it is coaxial cable, 50-ohms or 75-ohms, follow the antenna instruction. Selecting a radio to place on the operating table can be as easy or as difficult as one would like it to be. I think the best way is to set the amount of money that one is prepared to lay out for the radio and then find the best deal available. Ham radio is only a hobby and we have to keep that always in our mind. Every hobby could come with expensive toys, but it is still only a hobby.
I am in the process of updating my ham radio station and I have a slightly different approach. I am getting a ham radio station for performance, even if I have to save up for 10 years to buy the equipment, because cost and performance usually go together. The ham radio fraternity has determined the minimum specification for the ideal ham radio receiver. I believe it was 80dB Dynamic Range Narrow Spaced at 2 kHz. One ham radio equipment and accessory manufacturer maintains a list of tested ham radio equipment on their website. I am looking in the top 20 rows for the radio that will suit my operating style and make my ham radio shack look nice and happy.
Over the last 43 plus years of ham radio in V4 I have picked up a few things. [a] I am not willing to buy ham radio products Made in Japan, China or Asia in general, unless I deem them to be of a disposable nature. These are items that I am not going to repair once they call for service. I cannot have another thousand dollar ham radio transceiver in that 'disposable' category again. [b] It is only within the last few months that a radio Made in Japan has made it to the top of the "test data table" referenced here. The top positions were all taken by the ham gear Made in the USA. [c] All of the top performance radios here that are made in the USA I call them 'comparatively' affordable.[d] I am of the view that spare parts are more readily available for equipment Made in the USA, than anywhere else. In the worst case scenario I can jump on an American Airlines flight from V4 and return by evening for dinner with a repaired or a new USA made ham radio transceiver in my hand. This is just my view and my outlook.
I must say that I have fallen in love with the Flex radio software defined radios found here. This radio is comprised of software and hardware. The software is downloadable and free and the hardware you purchase. For the last year or so I have the free software downloaded onto my computer, and one day soon I may find the cash to order the hardware, and I am good to go on the air right away. Flex radio promotes the testing of this SDR and I have been demonstrating it to a few of the hams who visit my shack. I hope someone would download the free SDR software to their laptop and give a Flex SDR a demo at one of the club meetings. The Flex SDR may be the solution to many of the ham radio difficulties we have in V4 land today. Some hams have inquired about the Flex radio. Email them any question and ask for the test wave files that contain SSB contacts.
Ham radio is always alive and well in V4 and I expect to see it moving to higher heights in the months to come. It may require all of us to be in the trenches, all the time, and not some of us in the trenches, all the times. Have a great ham radio day.
You know how some people are, and can get, when they are looking for an excuse to escape from the scrutiny. I think enough time have gone by and I can talk freely and without favor again, and do not expect to upset anyone. I am not planning to muddy any waters, but some people does watch the crystal clear water and say it look muddy to them. Let us hope that by now they have 'clear eyes' and do not seek to retard, hinder or slow down any forward mobility that exist, as we all try to break free from the depressive grasp that seeks to encourage most of us to call it quits. If you think you are dead, you are dead.
Some of us tolerate and endure a lot of bull crap every day. I have developed a certain immunity to the crap. I just ignore it, irrespective of who it may come from. When you get to be a senior citizen, I suspect that you do not wish to favor fools gladly, nor wish to waste your time unproductively. I guess we old guys have to be more tolerant to the bull crappers, because for the most times they are not being funny or unrealistic, but genuinely ignorant, as in devoid of a particular stream of knowledge, so it is incumbent upon us to slow down, maybe step down off our pedestal, and offer some measure of understanding, counsel and guidance.
But sometimes that causes more heartache, given the attitude and disposition of the persons addressed. So plan C is implemented, and per that instruction, they are "left severely alone". In our thinking today, this is totally unacceptable, but a search of historical documents may reveal that is the prescribed treatment administered to people with that disease. The prescription will not cause any young organisation to mash up, or any entity that is making a comeback to slow down or capitulate, but instead will firm the resolve of serious persons to ensure that the goal, which should be clearly defined is achieved, within and even before the targeted time limit.
These are days and times when serious people and plans are needed to achieve success. It is not about wishful thinking. Plans and programs that are practical and workable are the order of the day. Not some pie-in-the-sky, hair-brained, schemes, that are thought up and not thought through. At the end of the day it must have real community benefit, not to benefit the mover of the bill alone, but it must be of real benefit to the organisation, as a whole, in short, medium or long term. There is no such thing as stupid or silly ideas or suggestions. Some of us make that most serious mistake by rejecting the words from the "least of the apostles" while if we take time to understand and see where that thought is coming from, we could very well discover it to be the idea most crucial to our entities survival and longevity.
The ham radio society in V4 is up for their monthly meeting shortly and I am expecting great things from them. I see this executive term as a rebirth and will compare it closely with the society's inception of 12th April 1973. The mathematics is a bit screwed because we should have had this rebirth between 1998 and 2006, so we are running late and behind ... but better late than never. Given the time frame for the rebirth [1998-2006] we should have had ham radio entrants that were born between 1965 and 1991. On the old timers side hams born between 1965 to 1973 and on the youthful side hams born between 1983 and 1991. Since we have missed that window by 5-years maybe we could just move all those dates up 5-years and we could be good to go for 2011.
So if I am anyway near right, the hams today that will make this organisation fly, are those old timers who were born between 1970 to 1978 and the youthful hams born between 1989 to 1996. So we should expect most from the hams born between 1970 to 1996. But ham radio is not straight forward like that and we may very well need the real old timers and very senior hams to help make this rebirth fly. This is one time that we need all hands on deck. I notice some folks are withdrawn, and I expect that they could suffer from a withdrawal, given the medication they could be taking, but it is incumbent upon all of us to touch base and communicate with every other ham in our Federation, and it has nothing to do with being a member of the radio club in Nevis or the radio society in St Kitts. I would not venture to say that maybe this 'club' thing is mashing us up, because clubs are supposed to bring people together and harmonize.
I hear we have some proposed legislation that I think is unacceptable in these times and I will have my say when it is released for public consumption. These are modern times and we need to be realistic and encouraging and accommodating. This is not 1973 and even back then we were not that brash, and I hope it is not an emulation of the "Bryant" clause constitution. Anyway more times for that.
The new hams radio operators have taken to the air waves, even better than some of us did some 40 and more years ago. In 1968 when I got my license there was no 2-meter VHF activity for hams. It was all HF, 3-30 MHz., code, voice and some of what we now call the digital modes. Now the new hams, if they are interested, will develop an interest in HF and make one of the biggest decisions in their ham radio career. Deciding on which brand of ham radio equipment to place on their operating table. Of greater significance than the bench equipment may be the antenna which determines how they hear and how they are heard on the other side of the planet, where they have sunlight while we are still in the dark. Over the years I have seen countless radio stations with top of the line equipment and a bull crap antenna, that does not allow them to make contacts over 1000 miles away.
I am only interested in contacts as far away from V4 as possible. Therefore I need a vertically polarized antenna. The lowest take off angle for my money. Propagation on every ham band and frequency is different so a refresh on propagation for the interested frequency and band is necessary. I am now stuck on 40-meters. If I chased after DX contacts in the day I would re-install my 5-element-wide spaced 15-meter Hy-Gain beam, or get a new 12-meter bean, or even a 20-meter 4-element beam or a log periodic antenna tuning continuously from 14 MHz to 30 MHz. But when I DX it is 'my' night, and on 40-meters a home made array is all that is needed, and the ARRL Antenna Handbook could prove useful, but in my opinion the authoritative works of ON4UN in his Low Band DX Handbook provides all the info and data that a new ham really needs. My 80-meter antenna is very similar to this one found here, and it is the best one I have used so far in my 43+ years of ham radio. I think this is a good starting point for new DXing ham radio operators.
This antenna can be built for pennies, but similar commercial designs are available for the hams with the cash. Our local problem may be unavailability of aluminium tubing for construction, but there are many innovative options, and you know we can be innovative. To connect antenna to the radio it is coaxial cable, 50-ohms or 75-ohms, follow the antenna instruction. Selecting a radio to place on the operating table can be as easy or as difficult as one would like it to be. I think the best way is to set the amount of money that one is prepared to lay out for the radio and then find the best deal available. Ham radio is only a hobby and we have to keep that always in our mind. Every hobby could come with expensive toys, but it is still only a hobby.
I am in the process of updating my ham radio station and I have a slightly different approach. I am getting a ham radio station for performance, even if I have to save up for 10 years to buy the equipment, because cost and performance usually go together. The ham radio fraternity has determined the minimum specification for the ideal ham radio receiver. I believe it was 80dB Dynamic Range Narrow Spaced at 2 kHz. One ham radio equipment and accessory manufacturer maintains a list of tested ham radio equipment on their website. I am looking in the top 20 rows for the radio that will suit my operating style and make my ham radio shack look nice and happy.
Over the last 43 plus years of ham radio in V4 I have picked up a few things. [a] I am not willing to buy ham radio products Made in Japan, China or Asia in general, unless I deem them to be of a disposable nature. These are items that I am not going to repair once they call for service. I cannot have another thousand dollar ham radio transceiver in that 'disposable' category again. [b] It is only within the last few months that a radio Made in Japan has made it to the top of the "test data table" referenced here. The top positions were all taken by the ham gear Made in the USA. [c] All of the top performance radios here that are made in the USA I call them 'comparatively' affordable.[d] I am of the view that spare parts are more readily available for equipment Made in the USA, than anywhere else. In the worst case scenario I can jump on an American Airlines flight from V4 and return by evening for dinner with a repaired or a new USA made ham radio transceiver in my hand. This is just my view and my outlook.
I must say that I have fallen in love with the Flex radio software defined radios found here. This radio is comprised of software and hardware. The software is downloadable and free and the hardware you purchase. For the last year or so I have the free software downloaded onto my computer, and one day soon I may find the cash to order the hardware, and I am good to go on the air right away. Flex radio promotes the testing of this SDR and I have been demonstrating it to a few of the hams who visit my shack. I hope someone would download the free SDR software to their laptop and give a Flex SDR a demo at one of the club meetings. The Flex SDR may be the solution to many of the ham radio difficulties we have in V4 land today. Some hams have inquired about the Flex radio. Email them any question and ask for the test wave files that contain SSB contacts.
Ham radio is always alive and well in V4 and I expect to see it moving to higher heights in the months to come. It may require all of us to be in the trenches, all the time, and not some of us in the trenches, all the times. Have a great ham radio day.
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