Get On The Air Program

Mark Wagner, N1ZYZ

GOTAP Coordinator
Between work and home (as in buying and selling) it’s been a very busy month for me, so this column will be a bit shorter than last.

As far as GOTAP is concerned, I have just received a new update from the ARRL and will start the contacts this weekend.

I have also checked into the availability of “loaner” equipment and found that there is indeed a limited amount of HF equipment available to help get folks on the air. If you know of any additional equipment that may be available please let me know. If you are hindered from getting on the air due to a lack of equipment please contact me and we’ll see if we can help.

Newbies

Please welcome the following folks into the hobby if you hear them on the air.
Chris Caiazzi, KB1CLQ
Robert Grant, KB1CMM
Richard McKenzie, KB1CMO
Joseph Reed, KB1COH

Code Practice

As I had mentioned last month, one of the main areas of interest of the hams I have contacted is increasing code speed. I have been listening and calling CQ on 28.360 MHz most nights around 20:30 local time. Please jump in, everyone is welcome. Maybe some of you “CW hotshots” will help us out. The frequency is deliberately in the phone portion of the band so when I get confused I can switch to voice. You can do the same. If we practice among ourselves we'll improve our abilities in no time at all. Some additional news is that KD1AW is organizing another more formal session. Details are here in bulletin.

I have found a web site that has some very useful info on Morse Code. The URL is http://www.joates.demon.co.uk/megs/. The site is helpful as well as interesting. There is a book online that has multiple techniques for learning and improving CW skills as well as some of the history of Morse Code. I think that most of us would find something of interest here. I would highly recommend this site to those trying to improve their code speed. It showed me a bunch of stuff I was doing wrong. I will have a copy at the next NARC meeting for people to look at.

What’s next

I have volunteered to present a much better look into GOTAP at the May NARC meeting. If you have any questions or areas you want me to cover, let me know ahead of time. I plan on keeping the presentation short so we can go for ice cream…..

You can reach me on the Nashua repeater (147.045+/224.28-), by phone at 603-424- 1516 or email: markwagner@geocities.com. 73 de Mark, N1ZYZ

73 de Mark, N1ZYZ

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