January 2012 Column:           

          The New Year has arrived and just in time. As ham operators formulate their New Years resolutions and continue to adjust whatever goodies Santa dropped off last week, it is appropriate to look ahead to the factors that may figure into 2012.

            While we are six months away from the 2012 Hurricane Season, it is still a good idea to make preparations now without the stress of a fast approaching deadline. If you are thinking of building an NVIS antenna for use in an emergency, now is the time to build it and test it out at a leisurely pace. With the cooler temperatures presently upon us, it is much easier to work outside without the risk of sunstroke. Similarly, if you have been putting off checking the antennas on your tower or tilting down that mast to repair or maintain, it will be much more comfortable at 70 degrees than it will be in July at 103.

            Another aspect of Amateur Radio that comes into focus now is hamfest season. Up North, hamfests usually occur in the summer. Down here in Florida, they start in November and continue all through the winter months until late May. In addition, the second biggest Hamfest in North America is in Orlando in early February. Vendors and manufacturers flock to this event at the Central Florida Fairgrounds. If you have your pennies saved up, Orlando is a great hamfest to find what you need/want whatever mode or area of interest you participate in.

            Speaking of comfort, as I did a paragraph or so before, now is a perfect time to get out and do a little “Ham Radio Alfresco”. There are so many parks and beaches in Florida that if you can’t find a place to throw a little wire in a tree and operate with low power off a battery, you aren’t looking hard enough. Your “portable” station can be anything from a QRP homebrew single band rig to one of the big three’s latest 100 watt wonder radios that do everything from DC to Daylight. Just turn the power down so the battery lasts more than 10 minutes and you too can get a tan while adding another few DX entities to your log book.

            Those New Years resolutions can be accomplished now too. If you are thinking about trying for an upgrade to your license, now is the time to start studying. If your storage shed has a ton of old radio stuff in it, get busy and drag it all out into the sunlight and sort it out or throw it out. If you find you have a working radio or accessory that you do not need any more, consider donating it to your local Amateur Radio Emergency Services group. They may be able to use it as is, or they may be able to sell it and gain a few dollars towards the maintenance costs of their response unit. All that radio, gear and antenna masts is a significant cost to most ARES groups and since they do not charge dues to their members, few have anything more than a really bare-bones budget. A donation of radio gear or funds will greatly improve their ability to respond quickly when the 2012 Hurricane Season arrives. If you have put off joining your local ARES group, now is the time to do it. There is some training to be accomplished, it is free, and online for the FEMA mandated courses, and there is plenty of time if one starts now to get adjusted to the local group’s training regimen. Make no mistake, while amateur radio is an “amateur” service, the responders from ARES are as professional as they come. Joining this group will not only assist your community, but also crank up your skill level in all areas of “amateur radio”.

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February 2012 Column:

            The month of February is upon us and “snowbird” season is in full swing. Personally, I like this time of year because, apart from the heavier traffic woes, this is the time of year when everything is in high gear. There are more art exhibitions, more entertainment mega-stars performing here etc. Almost any hobby or other avocation one can think of has more going on at this time of year than at any other. Great weather only adds to the enjoyment of the Sarasota-Bradenton area.

            This includes the interest that I write about, Amateur Radio. There are more ham-fests in South-central Florida from December through April than at any other time of year. A “Hamfest is kind of like a flea market and trade show combined all devoted to one area of interest, Amateur Radio. It is where many “Hams” (Licensed Amateur Radio Operators) go to buy radios, parts, antennas, test gear, cables, wire, and any number of other devices that will advance their enjoyment of this incredible hobby. They also go to meet friends they talk to on the radio perhaps every day. The weird part is they often develop close friendships with people they only actually see once or twice a year. Hams have friends all over the world because of their contacts made by amateur radio. A ham fest is often the only time they will get together in person.

            They also attend the bigger events so that they can participate in and learn from various forums that are held at these major ham fests. There are forums on Contesting, on Digital modes, on DIY radio or “Homebrewing” gear. There are forums on the use of computers in amateur radio. Computers have become vital in ham radio, not to replace the radio but to add to it.

 Several years ago, some “experts” were sounding the death knell for Amateur Radio. They said that the Internet and computers would kill off Amateur Radio. Sorry guys, you were dead wrong! Amateur Radio just admitted its largest number of licensed operators ever. The count of active licenses just in the United States is now somewhere North of 780,000 and growing every day. This is the highest number of amateur radio operators EVER. Amateur radio is alive and very healthy, due in no small part to the incredible variety of different things one can do as a ham operator.

Even with an “entry-level” license, a ham has access to a very large span of the spectrum. They can talk through satellites to hams in other countries, they can visit, electronically, the International Space Station, they can build their own gear such as antennas, amplifiers, accessories for the radio and many more. Hams are vital to this nation’s response in time of disaster, whether that event be natural or human caused. The various emergency teams like CERT, Red Cross, Salvation Army, React, Catholic Charities and many others are tied together in communications by amateur radio. Most Emergency Operations Centers have amateur radio as an integral part of their communications systems.

To quote a publicity brochure put out by the American Radio Relay League a while back- “This is not your grandfather’s ham radio anymore”. Modern ham radio makes extensive use of the latest in technology to improve and strengthen the capabilities that only amateur radio has. Ham radio needs no infrastructure, no cell towers, no hugely expensive and vulnerable governmental communications systems. Just dedicated and unpaid volunteer operators with their own radios, their own antennas and their own emergency power can keep the communications going between the responding agencies and the populace they need to help.

Ham fests are where these dedicated people go to get the equipment and supplies they know they need to keep all this service up and running. It is also where they go to meet other people with similar interests and add to their skills. I love going anywhere to talk to other people about amateur radio. I always come away having learned something new and interesting. Sometimes I am the guest speaker, other times I go to hear another speaker, but I always learn from others every time I go. Hopefully your hobby is like that too. If not, maybe you should take another look at amateur radio.

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 March 2012 Column.

            March is a month, when I lived up North, that had very little to recommend it. March was always blustery, cold and usually wet. The snow was gone but the lousy conditions were still there. It wasn’t until I moved to Florida that I found out that March can also be a great month. Down here, the temperatures are very nice, the sunshine is abundant and rain only falls, apparently, on the day of the Daytona 500.

            What, you may ask does that have to do with Ham Radio? Lots, as you will see in a moment. Ham fest season is still in full swing and the weather is perfect for doing a little alfresco amateur radio. Rather than being cooped up in the radio room (some people call it a radio shack, but my radio room is no shack and so I tend to use a more appropriate term) the ham operator can get out and go to the beach or a park, set up a simple antenna, generally made of wire, hook up the radio to a battery and do a few hours of DX (long distance communicating) with stations all over the world. A convenient tree serves as the antenna support, a picnic table makes a fine operating position and one can even get a tan while doing an activity they enjoy.

            Ham radio in the “field” is a most enjoyable activity. There are groups within the hobby that focus on things such as lighthouses. There is even an international association that supports this activity with awards and specialized events. Other groups such as radio clubs operate “special event stations” for a wide variety of mostly non-radio related events. One such event is the annual “Sun and Fun” fly-in held annually in Lakeland, FL. The event lasts all week and the special event station will be there the whole time. Often, a unique QSL card (a verification of a radio contact) is sent to every station that contacts the special event station. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) even issues special temporary call signs to special event stations that request it. Special event stations are associated with innumerable functions. The opening of a new park or museum, an anniversary of some important person’s birth, a public event like a fair or carnival, all are frequent reasons for a special event station.

            One of the best aspects of a special event station is that in most cases, the station is right in the middle of all the public activities. This gives the general public a golden opportunity to see and hear amateur radio in action. Many times, a member of the public who might have been interested in amateur radio years ago, before career and family needs pushed it to the back, has their interest reignited at one of these stations. Almost every time a club runs a special event station, at the next club meeting there are a few new faces who are returning to or joining a hobby they had almost forgotten. Amateur Radio is stronger than ever. Just recently, the FCC announced that the number of active licenses for amateur radio operators has passed 800,000 in the US alone. The “doom and gloomers” have been saying ham radio was dead. NOT BY A LONG SHOT! The ham radio hobby is very much alive and well. There are countless operating modes and aspects of amateur radio such that almost anyone, regardless of their focus in life, can find an enjoyable and interesting facet of amateur radio in which to find a home.

            Check out the American Radio Relay League’s web site at: www.arrl.org to find a local club meeting or special event station close to you. Then go and find out what amateur radio has to offer you. You will not be disappointed.

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 April 2012 Column:

            April is here and the time is coming for both amateur radio operators and everyone else to start thinking about and preparing for --- Wait for it----Hurricane Season. Nobody really wants to right now, because the weather is the best it has been all year and June 1^st seems a long way off. Most if not all of us would rather go to the beach and work on our tan than get prepared for what right now seems to be a distant worry.

            The people who are the very first to respond if a hurricane hits the State of Florida cannot delay their preparations at all. Just last week, the state held its 2012 Hurricane Conference in Orlando. Amateur radio operators were a major part of that event, as they are every year. If the authorities are already knee deep in preparations for the coming weather season, it only makes sense that we should also be making plan for our own families. Where would we go? What do we need to have on hand? What will we do about the medications we need every day? What and where will we be able to eat? If we have a generator, how much gas will we need to stock up on? If we have family members dependent on medical devices like oxygen concentrators or a ventilator, how will we keep them alive?

            The answers to these questions and more need to be considered and answered now. The actual stocking up process can probably wait a few more weeks, but the planning must take place now. Here are a few things to consider when you sit down to make those plans and lists. Depending on the severity of the damage caused by a storm there may not be ANY cell phone service at all. The same goes for regular land line phone service and the Internet. There probably will be few if any gas stations open or grocery stores either. Your pharmacy will be closed, if it still stands at all after a major hurricane. The street signs will be gone. Similarly, any traffic signal lights will be out, if they didn’t get blown away entirely. Debris will fill many roads making them impassable. That means that not only will you not be able to get out, but also the first responders like ambulances and fire services will not be able to get to you. If you think I am painting an overly dark picture of what may happen, just think back to New Orleans and Katrina. Locally, think about Punta Gorda a few years before that.

            In order to keep you and your loved ones out of the panic mode it pays to start now to plan and prepare for the coming hurricane season. There are plenty of resources on the Internet and available from your county and municipal authorities. You can find lists of shelters, suggested packing lists, what to do about medications, etc from many local sources. Every year, commercial entities like TV stations and newspapers provide guides to assist you in planning for your unique situation when a hurricane or tornado strikes. Get ready. It is much better to be a survivor than a statistic. Be part of the solution otherwise you are part of the problem. Here are just a couple of web sites that can be of help:

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/subindex/weather/tropical/storm_guide

http://www.tampabayhurricaneexpo.com/newsinfo.cfm

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May 2012 Column