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I did a practice run this afternoon (Saturday) and made 11 QSOs easily from NC to TX to CA. If conditions hold, we should have a good net tomorrow.
I hope to see you there.
On October 3 Bernie N1IMO notified me that Echolinik was up on the repeater system. He did say that it was possible it would come down and he is working on a more permanent solution to the issue that took it down in the first place.
Here’s a link about VLBA.
Here’s a link to a webcam at the Hancock, NH site. It periodically repositions itself throughout the day.
http://www.vlba.nrao.edu/sites/SITECAM/HNcam.shtml
I’ve often wondered about the NRAO (The National Radio Astronomy Observatory) VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) satellite dish in Hancock near me. It’s a 218 ton 82′ dish hidden in the woods. It monitors deep space, black holes, tracks Near-Earth Asteroids, etc.
I think it uses microwave frequencies. It’s not a designated “quiet zone” but it seems like a nearby ham could cause problems. Maybe it’s on a need-to-know basis, at least until several large black vehicles show up at someone’s house…
I wish I could join you all but I have other commitments this weekend. I’ll be doing a lot of driving and will be listen for the park on 40M SSB. Have fun and be safe! I hope to join you on the 8th at Pack Monadnock.
73,
- Matt, WE1H
I agree. For me, those standards were more visually descriptive than the later square boxes with tiny circles.
When I started everything was True or False, with a True being a positive voltage. Almost all computer logic consisted of AND/OR gates and plenty of Flip-Flops.
It took me awhile to reprogram my brain around 1968 or so when my company converted to High/Low logic with a Low (voltage) being what used to be a True or high voltage. At the same time AND/OR gates were replaced with NAND/NOR gates. More reprogramming for my brain.
But in truth it would require massive amounts of diagrams and schematics to draw today’s LSI logic the way we used to back in the day.
Bob – I just recently joined the NARS, but your post hit close to home. I took up code about 10 years ago, after having my license for about 20 years. I will say, my dad was a life long ham and could do about 35 WPM send/ receive, using a “bug”. I played around with his keys and he gave me both a straight key and a Vibro-keyer.
When I got serious, my CW mentor Bill Sepulveda (K5LN) ran a CW class for our club. Bill is a hard core CW guy. Check him out on YouTube.
We used the G4FON code trainer program. No straight key – start with an iambic key. There’s two reasons for this. One is, the mechanics of sending with an iambic is totally different than a straight key. The second is, we were shooting for 20 WPM in a 12 week class that met once a week. You want to go fast, you need to be sending with an iambiac. And you need to hear code at that speed. Finally, some kind of electronic keyer to practice on. I personally used a Kent paddle and a cheap keyer/trainer.
I made it to 12 WPM, but forgot the most important lesson – practice, practice, practice! I hope it’s going well for you.
Dave – W9DPY