A Ham Radio Comes In Handy During Emergencies

When things happen such as earthquakes or staying in contact with and find people who are lost at sea, ham radios can come in handy!

Here is a link to an article that talks about one's man participation in ham radio. For him, he started it out as a hobby by just listening to the ham radio broadcasts and then it became much more to him. (He has even worked in conjunction with the police!)

Here is an excerpt from the article:

"A few nights ago, George Scott was in his bathroom getting ready for bed when he felt one of the earthquakes that shook Yuma recently. He quickly got on his ham radio and found that three of his fellow operators were already on the frequency talking about it. "

Aether?

What is Aether?

Aether a new application designed to log ham radio sessions. Take a look at the screenshot below:



Aether provides tools to quickly and easily log contacts while on the air, as well as organize, search and track contacts after the fact. Features include instant search, automatic callbook lookup, serial rig control, cocoaModem integration and more. Aether is available for $40 and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.

*Unfortunately Aether requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. But if you have this Mac Operating system then this program is available for around $40.

source
Macnn

Ham Radio Club Celebrates!

The Tacoma Radio Club is celebrating its 100th anniversary!

The club currently has about 300 members.

Here is an excerpt from an online article:

"RCT members, young and old, hail from all over the South Sound. And when your 400 googleherz of megaram fails and the Y2K bug finally burrows in and shorts out “the grid,” it’ll be these amateur radio operators who’ll keep the information flowing and help get things back online."

The Radio Club of Tacoma's clubhouse looks like any other home in the 1200 block of South Washington Street – except for the giant antenna that looms over the entire neighborhood. The clubhouse is home to a library of vintage radio operating manuals and a museum of antique radios as well as some of the club’s current broadcasting equipment. And it’s open to the public for a few hours every Saturday.

One thing that is interesting to note is that while knowing the morse code is no longer a requirement, a lot of the club members still practice it.

source
The News Tribune

Arnewsline

About Us:

Amateur Radio Newsline™ is a free service to the amateur radio community. It is entirely supported by voluntary donations from individual amateurs and amateur radio clubs.

Amateur Radio Newsline™ is not directly associated with the former Westlink Report Newsletter (no longer in production ), the ARRL Letter, or any organization or amateur radio lobby group.

All participants in the Amateur Radio Newsline™ operation are professionals in the news media who have volunteered their time and skills to help prepare each weekly bulletin.

Amateur Radio Newsline™ has no paid staff and all funds go directly to the defraying operating costs.

Amateur Radio Newsline™ along with Vertex-Standard and CQ Publishing is a co-sponsor of the Young Ham of the Year Award program. The award was created in 1986 by ARNewsline™ founder Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. Full information on this program is at http://www.yhoty.org

Amateur Radio Newsline™ created and sponsors the Roy Neal K6DUE Amateur Radio Mentoring Project. This is a program designed to take newly licensed radio amateurs and place them one-on-one with veteran hams so that they may learn the traditions and operating skills that no classroom or home-study environment can teach. Please see http://www.arnewsline.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=42 for more information.

About the Newscast:

Amateur Radio Newsline™ proiduces a weekly newscast of interest to radio amateurs worldwide. The bulletins conform to all sections and codes as outlined under the United States FCC Part 97 Amateur Radio Service rules regarding the legal means of amateur radio operators issuing "QST’s" or "Bulletins of Interest to All Amateurs." We differ only in format and follow a more traditional radio "spot news" format. Whenever possible,

Production Values:

Amateur Radio Newsline™ stories include the voices of the newsmakers themselves so that you can more easily understand the effect that the story will have on all radio amateurs. If you have ever heard CBS Network Radio News or NBC News on the Hour then you will be familiar with the format utilized by Amateur Radio Newsline™, with the exception that the information we provide is strictly directed to radio amateurs.

Distribution:

Amateur Radio Newsline™ does not directly sponsor any on-air operation. We have no transmitting facilities of our own on any band: HF or VHF / UHF. We are producer / distributors only.

Amateur Radio Newsline™ is delivered primarily by MP3 Internet Audio at our http://www.arnewsline.org website and by automated telephone feeds from various locations nationwide.

Since most Amateur Radio Newsline™ bulletins contain a lead message to the issuing bulletin station called a "Closed Circuit Advisory" we recommend that bulletin stations pre-record the service and retransmit only that part which constitutes the text of the service itself. This is easily accomplished by calling into one of the numbers listed below and recording Amateur Radio Newsline™ for delayed retransmission on your local repeater (or FM simplex / HF SSB frequency.) This also permits easy integration of Amateur Radio Newsline™ into an already established net or on-air amateur radio information service.

Newscast Release Schedule:

The website audio and text feed is usually updated early on Friday of each week – Pacific time (PST or PDT depending on time of year.)

The Los Angeles (661-296-2407) telephone feed is updated by midday Friday Pacific time with other lines usually updating within 24 hours. (Please note that with the exception of the Los Angeles area lines, all other feed points are privately funded and sponsored.)

Technical Stuff:

The weekly Amateur Radio Newsline™ Amateur Radio bulletin is formatted and engineered primarily for distribution on VHF / UHF amateur repeaters and by FM simplex bulletin stations. Audio processing is specifically contoured for these delivery media, but the service can also be relayed with good results on HF SSB.

A Thank-You:

We hope that you and all amateur operators in your area will enjoy Amateur Radio Newsline™. Please let us know how we can serve you better. E-mail your suggestions to newsline@arnewsline.org

Arnewsline

Scholarship Program For Amateur Radio Enthusiasts!

The Foundation for Amateur Radio, Inc. (FAR), provides support to the Amateur Radio community for education, and technical and advisory guidance.

Scholarships


The Foundation For Amateur Radio is currently accepting applications for scholarships for the 2008-2009 academic year.

The FAR Scholarship Committee is responsible for the administration of 58 Amateur Radio-related scholarships that are sponsored by individuals and Amateur Radio clubs from across the nation. This is the largest such program related to Amateur Radio in the country. The FAR scholarship application process is open to all licensed Amateur Radio operators worldwide. Scholarship amounts range from $500 to $3,000.

Click here for detailed information about FAR Scholarships


Scholarships are open to all licensed amateurs who are pursuing a full-time course of studies beyond high school and are enrolled in or have been accepted for enrollment at an accredited university, college or technical school.


Scholarship applications for the 2008-2009 academic year are currently available.

The cut-off date for applications is May 1, 2008.


Scholarships for the 2008 - 2009 Academic Year


Beginning this year, the FAR Scholarship application form is being supplied as a PDF form file. This form gives you two options:

• You may fill out the form electronically using either Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat (free download to view .pdf files), then print it out for signature
  
  
  
• Or, you may simply print the blank form and fill it out by hand.

We encourage you to use the electronic completion method to ensure the legibility of the completed document. Either way, you are required to submit a paper copy of the form, complete with the required signatures.


Once you have completed the form, please print it out. A signed, paper copy of the form is the only valid form of submission.


If you have questions about, or problems with use of the electronic form, please contact Dave Prestel, W8AJR, at dave.prestel@gmail.com or by phone at 410 552-2652.


You will need to download both the application and regulations documents as both are needed to properly complete the application.


Regardless of how you choose to complete the form, please obtain the required recommendation signatures that are asked for on Page 7 and be sure to sign Page 8 yourself.


Incomplete forms, forms sent by email, and unsigned forms will not be considered.


You may mail the completed and signed form to:


FAR Scholarships

P.O. Box 831

Riverdale, MD 20738


or, you may FAX the completed and signed form to 410 981-5146.

Note that the cut-off date for applications is May 1, 2008.


This information was last updated: December 03, 2007

I'm Always Curious As To How Some People Have Come To / Found My Blog.....

Here is how one person got to my blog - they used Google's search engine to get here

The search term that was used was "ke0ty repeater". If you go to the link noted above you will see a list of different repeater links and their locations

---

(I have to remember to thank my "SEO Consultant)

Amateur Radio Operations Useful in Many Situations

Amateur Radio Operations Useful in Many Situations By Angela Nash - 19 Nov 2007


Photo by Stephanie RhodesContrary to what many think, most ham radios are not simple hand held devices.
Amateur radio operators use their ham radios to communicate with others around the world.
"Typically when people think of a radio, they think of the little handheld things people carry around which, yes, they are nice to have and they are beneficial, but that is not where radio stops at all," said Mike Robinson, former president of the BYU Amateur Radio Club.
Ham is a nickname for amateur radio.
"There are lots of rumors of where it [the nickname] started off," said David Springgay, president of the BYU Amateur Radio Club. "The most reliable one that I can think of, and the one that I go with, is that the Navy always got mad at amateur radio operators so they started calling us hams, you know, like pigs."
Ham radios are similar to CB radios, except the frequencies used by ham radio operators are monitored.
"One of the things that ham radio has prided itself on and still does, is the fact that the bands are clean," said Jim Manookin, faculty advisor to the BYU Amateur Radio Club. "CB radio operators don't have an organized way of controlling their band space."
Because CB radio band space is not controlled, inappropriate material is often heard.
"There are vulgarities, off-colored stories and bad language," Manookin said. "One of the things that we judiciously try to avoid is that kind of language and that kind of use of our radio bands. It is illegal to swear on the radio. It is bad practice to say anything disparaging."
The use of ham radios is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.
"Without regulation, it would be chaotic, much like CB's," said Chris Black, the communications and IT specialist for the University Police.
One way the Federal Communications Commission regulates the use of ham radios is by requiring all amateur radio operators to have a license to use a ham radio.
"The FCC controls those frequencies," Springgay said. "They want to make sure you know proper etiquette ... and they want to be sure you know how to use them, that you know the rules and you know some basic theory, radio theory."
There are many reasons to become a licensed ham radio operator.
"One of them is to promote the radio art, which kind of means to promote the brotherhood, the camaraderie that exists in the ham radio community," Manookin said.
For many ham radio operators, it is a hobby. For others, it is a way to provide service.
"The reason you would want one, is you can do a lot of service in the community, being able to assist in emergencies, because unlike cell phones, they don't go down," said Robinson.
Ham radios have been used in several national disasters, including hurricane Katrina and Sept. 11.
"In the 9/11 disaster, when the twin towers came down, there were, on the top of the twin towers, a number of communications facilities ... and when the towers came down all that communications infrastructure failed," Manookin said. "And so, one of the most valuable services was the quick response of ham radio operators in that area and the surrounding area who came in ... and established, at least a basic emergency infrastructure of communications that was invaluable during that disaster response."

How to become a licensed Ham radio operator:

1) Contact the BYU Amateur Radio Club (radioclub.byu.edu) for help in preparing for the exam.
2) Study for the exam. The question pool can be found online at http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/pools.html.
3) Take the exam. To find upcoming exams, use the exam locator on the Amateur radio relay league web-site http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml.
4) Purchase a radio. The BYU Amateur Radio Club also lends radios to its members.