Internet Archive seeking help to document Amateur Radio history

 Internet Archive Seeks Donations of Materials to Build a Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications

The Internet Archive website is looking for help to build a Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC). The project to build the library, is seeking contributors with collections of books, magazines, documents, catalogs, manuals, videos, software, private archives, and other historical records related to amateur radio and early digital communications.

Read their entire press release here: https://blog.archive.org/2022/10/04/internet-archive-seeks-donations-of-materials-to-build-a-digital-library-of-amateur-radio-and-communications/

QRZ New Ham Jumpstart Program

 from QRZ forums:

We are pleased to announce the QRZ New Ham Jumpstart, a program that will help new hams get on the air faster than ever. The program, which is jointly sponsored by QRZ and GigaParts, will provide a FREE, New Ham Welcome Package to eligible applicants. Among the goodies in the first edition of theWelcome Package, we are including a brand-new dual-band handheld transceiver, the Explorer QRZ-1,along with a host of other sponsor-supplied goodies.

Purpose of the Jumpstart Program
This program is designed to promote amateur radio to the masses, helping to eliminate a possible
barrier to entry by providing new hams with their first radio. The Jumpstart program will provide the
QRZ-1 radio to new hams who meet eligibility requirements. No purchase or subscription of any kind is
necessary. The welcome package is FREE to those who qualify.

Full details link: https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/announcing-the-qrz-new-ham-jumpstart-program.823607/

NEW! ARRL Learning Network Webinars

 The ARRL has a new member benefit you might want to take advantage of. You can participate live or catch the recorded session later. 

Link to ARRL LN webinar site on-line: http://www.arrl.org/arrl-learning-network

Learning Network Webinars

Overview: ARRL's Learning Network is a webinar series to help introduce members to the variety of activities and opportunities enjoyed by radio amateurs. These live presentations will be given by member-volunteers, for all members. Like hamfest forums and radio club presentations, the webinars are intended to help participants get more active, involved, and engaged in amateur radio. Presentations are 30-minutes each to accommodate attendee's busy schedules, followed by a 15-minute period for questions-and-answers. For additional information contact ARRL's Lifelong Learning department.

Upcoming Schedule

Amateur Radio Logging
Presented by Anthony Luscre, K8ZT
Discover the advantages of keeping an electronic Amateur Radio Log. Find out why you may need more than one software program for logging-contesting, digital modes, special events, etc. Learn about using one full-featured logging program to pull everything together, interface with outside databases, handle electronic QSLing, etc. The discussion will include file formats, importing and exporting data between programs, submitting contest logs online and safe backup of data.
Thursday January 14, 2021 @ 3:30 pm EST (2030 UTC)

Emergency Communications: Why Train?
Presented by Greg Evans, K5GTX - Section Emergency Coordinator for North Texas and Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Collin County
Why should we train? Utilizing Amateur Radio Operators in an EMCOMM situation is a key function that can save lives. As AROs, we must be able to respond to the needs of our served agencies quickly and responsibly. Topics covered include, Incident Command System and its relevance, building on consistent training, interoperability with multiple communications providers, interoperability with VOAD and partners, Mission One: Get the information delivered.
Thursday January 21, 2021 @ 3:30 pm EST (2030 UTC)

Easy Helical Copper Tape and PVC 2m Vertical Antenna
Presented by John Portune, W6NBC
Here's how to quickly build from hardware-store copper tape and PVC pipe a tiny 18 in. continuously loaded light weight portable or base station 2m omni-directional vertical antenna with performance and efficiency comparable to a 5 ft. J-pole. Cost: roughly $10. It's an easy afternoon's home brew project, ideal for the new ham but equal to the serious hams' needs. It is great for events like bike-a-thons. It also makes an excellent ham radio club hands-on build-it meeting project. Further, it adapts well to other bands.
Tuesday February 2, 2021 @ 1 pm EST (1800 UTC)

Interesting Stories about Ham Radio & Weather Spotting
Presented by Rob Macedo, KD1CY
One of the most critical ways Amateur Radio supports agencies such as the National weather service, National Hurricane Center and Emergency Management is via weather spotting via the NWS SKYWARN program. This presentation goes through interesting stories about how Amateurs involved in SKYWARN have saved lives and property and how this is an important Amateur Radio activity.
Thursday February 11, 2021 @ 8 pm EST (0100 UTC on Friday, February 12)

Maxim Memorial Station W1AW Tour
Presented by Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, W1AW Station Manager
Maxim Memorial Station W1AW, located in Newington, Connecticut was established to honor the memory of ARRL’s co-founder and first president, Hiram Percy Maxim.  Although the first radio station of the ARRL was actually located in Hartford, Connecticut and active as W1MK, W1AW in Newington is known worldwide and considered the radio station most associated with Hiram Percy Maxim. Formally established in 1938 – nearly two years after the death of Hiram Percy Maxim - W1AW has consistently been on the air, save for the time when the station was ordered off the air by the FCC because of World War II. This guided tour will provide an inside look at W1AW and will be led by Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q.
Thursday February 18, 2021 @ 3:30 pm EST (2030 UTC)
 

Recorded Webinars

ARRL members may use the recording links to view recorded webinars for personal use only. Members may also use the videos for presentations to ARRL-affiliated radio clubs. ARRL Learning Network recordings are subject to copyright, and all rights are reserved. Downloaded videos should be deleted after promptly viewing, and videos may not be stored, introduced to a retrieval system, or published or shared elsewhere. If you have any questions contact ARRL's Lifelong Learning department.

Bear Bait Club - Ham Tech License Class 9/26-27

 Contact: [email protected]

Tech Class - Syracuse November 16th & 17th

The Bear Bait Radio Club will be holding a Technician Licensing Class November 16th and 17th 2019 at the Clay Highway Department, Clay NY.

No charge of the class, VE exam will be held after the Sunday Class, and will have a $14 exam fee.

Complete details may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/courses/clay-ny-13041-25 or at [email protected]

Registration link is https://forms.gle/D9TGZnBhdqw2yomRA

de Scott WA2DTN

Ham Radio for Kids - Newark NY - March 23rd

Why Radio Amateurs are called Hams

(Original story from Florida Skip Magazine - 1959) 

Have you ever wondered why radio amateurs are called "HAMS?"

Well, it goes like this: The word "HAM" was the station CALL of the first amateur wireless station that was operated by some amateurs at the Harvard Radio Club. They were ALBERT S. HYMAN, BOB ALMY and POOGIE MURRAY. In the early pioneer days of unregulated radio amateur operators picked their own frequency and their own call-letters. At first they called their station "HYMAN-ALMY-MURRAY". Tapping out such a long name in code soon became tiresome and called for a revision. They changed it to "HY-AL-MU," using the first two letters of each of their names. Early in 1901 some confusion resulted between signals from amateur wireless station "HYALMU" and a Mexican ship named "HYALMO." They then decided to use only the first letter of each name, and their station CALL became "HAM" Then, as now, some amateurs had better signals than commercial stations. The resulting interference came to the attention of congressional committees in Washington and Congress gave much time to proposed legislation designed to critically limit amateur radio activity.

RARA Workshop - Electronic Components — March 9th

RaRa Academy Workshops

Electronic Components

March 2019 — Electronic Components — March 9th (10AM to Noon)

For the March Academy we will have a jam-packed discussion of the basic properties of common electronic components.

The goal is to give participants a basic understanding of common parts for kit building and basic repair.

We will cover the basic components, their characteristics, schematics symbols, uses, how to read them and how to test some of them. Types will include:

•   Passive Components such as: resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, relays, lamps and indicators, wire gauges & ratings, connectors etc.

•   Active Components such as: transistors, ICs, tubes, opto-couplers etc.

•   Assemblies and Modules, such as: displays, controllers, RF modules, etc.

•   Basic Testing of Components - Using DVM, LCR Meter and Transistor Testing Techniques

This Session will be hosted by Scott Theis, W2LW, with Karl Heinz Kremer, K5KHK assisting.

New Location: Session will be held at the Pittsford Community Center, 35 Lincoln Avenue, Room 19, Pittsford, NY 14534.

You can sign up for Academy Workshops by emailing [email protected]. You can also sign-up at the General Meeting on March 6th.

Please take advantage of the RaRa sponsored training and operating opportunities.

Timothy Brown,
FCC Callsign: WB2PAY
RaRa Education Coordinator

RARA Academy - Get the Most From Your Antenna Real Estate - 2/23

Antennas and Antenna Basics

Here are a few of the topics we will discuss:

•  Antenna Fundamentals

•  Horizontal vs. Vertical Polarization

•  NVIS vs. DX Antennas

•  Antenna Modeling Using 4NEC

•  Antenna Supports and Hardware

•  Feeding and Nurturing of an Antenna

•  Baluns and Transmatch

•  Grounds and Counterpoise

•  Restricted Space and Stealth Antennas

•  The UGLY HOA Dilemma

Latest Academy information is available at https://www.rochesterham.org/rara_academy.htm

Time and Location:   Saturday 2/23/19, 10am - noon

Session will be held at the Ogden Public Library, 269 Ogden Center Road @ Rt. 259, Spencerport, NY 14459. Note the location change!

You can sign up for Academy Workshops by emailing [email protected].

Please take advantage of the RaRa sponsored training and operating opportunities.

Timothy Brown,
FCC Callsign: WB2PAY
RaRa Education Coordinator

cell: 585 750 2087

email: [email protected]

email: [email protected]

Ithaca Technician Class - TCARA

Greg Lawrence Email Link: [email protected]

Raspberry Pi workshop - RARA

RaRa Academy Workshops

What is a Raspberry Pi
— or —
If you already have one, how would you use one?
Saturday January 19th

 

These questions will be answered during the next RaRa Academy session about the Raspberry Pi. We will look into what exactly it is, how to set it up, and then what to do with it, with an emphasis on how it can be used in the ham shack.

Here are a few of the topics we will discuss:

•  What is a Raspberry Pi

•  Differences between the Arduino and a Pi

•  How to set it up

•  Installing software on the Pi - and keeping it up to date

•  Programing the Pi in Python

•  Transmitting and receiving with the Pi

•  The Pi as a tool in the ham shack

•  Resources that can help to get started (and keep going)

Latest Academy information is available at https://www.rochesterham.org/rara_academy.htm

Academy Workshops are held at the BSA Headquarters, 2320 Brighton Henrietta Town Line Rd, 10am to noon.

You can sign up for Academy Workshops by emailing [email protected].

Please take advantage of the RaRa sponsored training and operating opportunities.

Timothy Brown,
FCC Callsign: WB2PAY
RaRa Education Coordinator

cell: 585 750 2087

email: [email protected]

email: [email protected]

LARC TECHNICIAN Class - 12/15-16/18

For more information contact: [email protected]

LARC upcoming DMR College and General Class

It is time to get started with LARC's Fall Educational Schedule.  LARC will conduct our first DMR College on Saturday October 13th 27th (more on that to follow), along with a General License License Course to start on Tuesday, October 16th.

All sessions will be held at the North Syracuse Education Association, 210 South Main St, in North Syracuse.  I have attached the course schedule.  I anyone is interested in presenting a topic, please let me know.  We have all the slides needed to follow along with the Current Edition of the ARRL General Class License Manual.  As always, on the final day of class, the ARRL Exam will be given.  There is no cost for the class.  Cost for the exam is $15, cost of the textbook is $25. 

Thanks again for your support.  Stay tuned for more about our first “DMR College”.

LARC

General Course outline:

Proposed shutdown of funding for WWV

WWV and WWVH are on a list of proposed cuts in the White House's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST https://www.nist.gov/) Fiscal Year 2019 budget request. The proposed cuts, which only recently came to light, would also include the Atomic Clock signal from WWVB.
"It is important to note that no changes to NIST services have occurred, and if the proposal were to be implemented, public notice would be provided," NIST said this week.


According to the NIST Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget request the specific cut would come from the NIST Fundamental Measurement, Quantum Science, and Measurement Dissemination budget and would amount to $6.3 million.

"NIST has a long-standing history of providing time and frequency services through our radio stations and we appreciate that many people use these services," NIST said in a statement. "WWV is the longest continuously operating radio service in the US. At the same time, the proposed NIST budget for FY 2019 required difficult choices about budget priorities."

NIST said that it plans to eliminate "efforts that have been replaced by newer technologies, measurement science research that lies outside NIST's core mission space, and programs that can no longer be supported due to facility deterioration."

WWV and WWVH broadcast 24/7. Announcements include time announcements, standard time intervals, standard frequencies, UT1 time corrections, a BCD time code, geophysical alerts, and marine storm warnings. Transmissions are broadcast from separate transmitters on 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz. An experimental 25 MHz signal is also currently on the air. WWVB transmits standard Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) signals on 60 kHz to appropriately equipped devices
(from the ARRL Letter 8/23/18)

Two petitions have been started on the White House's "We the People" petition site calling for restoration of funding for these two essential radio stations. Each needs at least 100,000 electronic signatures by mid-September to generate a response from the White House. The petitions can be found at:

Sign both of the petitions here:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/maintain-funding-nist-stations-wwv-wwvh

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/proposed-shutdown-nists-wwv-and-wwvh-radio-stations

Very good articles from CQ News Room and others:
https://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2018/08/petition-drive-to-save-wwvwwvh-sept-15.html
https://w8edu.wordpress.com/save-wwv/
https://swling.com/blog/2018/08/nist-fy2019-budget-includes-request-to-shutdown-wwv-and-wwvh/

Balloon launch from RIT Sunday morning - Heading eastward

Balloon launch - heading toward CNY today

W2COP shared a link to the group: Roc City Net.

1 hr · 

TODAY, scheduled between 0930 and 1000 hrs. RIT SPEX has a Scientific high altitude balloon launch which should be visible on APRS. You can also go to https://aprs.fi on the web and search for W2RIT or KD2LAL They are asking for HAMS particularly out to the east for possible assistance with payload location and recovery. I will be monitoring 145.11 and 444.55. Jim-W2COP

using W2RIT-B on APRS (446.1250mhz)

ARRL Field Day 2018

Field Day is just a few months away........June 23rd and 24th, 2018

If you want to meet some friendly hams or experience some different operating modes, why don't you stop by one of the many Field Day events taking place in Upstate NY. You will see various antenna and radio setups along with operators trying to share their knowledge and score some points making contacts through out the weekend.

 Its a lot of fun - so we hope to see you out there on field day!

What is Field Day?

Field Day is part educational event, part operating event, part public relations event – and ALL about FUN!  link:

ARRL Field Day locator:  http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

Check out one of the following LOCAL Upstate groups below:
(*please also send us your groups listings to [email protected])

International Space Station contact with the MOST

The ham station at the MOST is scheduled to make a contact with the ISS on Friday, Feb 23rd at 9:08am.  The Public and MOST Volunteers are invited and doors will open at 8:30am.   All are invited, but if you are a registered volunteer, you can  get in free.  The contact will be with Mark Van de Hei, NASA astronaut.

If you are interested and are a volunteer,  RSVP to get on the free admission list.
RSVP to [email protected]

73 - NK2C

Upcoming education and training by LARC in Syracuse

Additional information at: http://www.w2cm.com/

 (note - January meeting is Thursday 1/25/18, Bootcamp at 6:15pm)

RMSC Holiday Science and Technology Days - Rochester

RMSC Holiday Science and Technology Days By Peter Fournia, W2SKY

Rochester Amateur Radio Association (RaRa) will again host amateur radio exhibits at the Rochester Museum and Science Center (RMSC) for 4 days during the Christmas – New Years holiday. This is part of the RMSC Holiday Science and Technology Days and will be the 19th year that we have participated in this event. It is a MAJOR exhibit for ham radio that exposes hundreds to thousands of people to our hobby / advocation. We have many basic electromagnetism and Morse Code exhibits ready to roll. However, we are always looking for new and interesting additions.


Do you have something to add? Some hams volunteers bring their own project to exhibit when they are present while other volunteers may leave the equipment to allow others my demonstrate it.

The dates are Wednesday, December 27 through Saturday, December 30, 2017 from about 10 AM to 3 PM each day. There will be a very active special events station led by Doug Stewart, N2BEG of the RDXA. RARA will lead the hands-on exhibits. RARA typically has 2 to 4 hams that demonstrate aspects of ham radio and radio communications technology. RDXA staffs and operates the HF special events station.

More information is available in the “Public Service” section on the RARA website: www.rochesterham.org You can also sign up on the website to volunteer for a day of your choice. We will also pass around a sign-up sheet at our December 6th RARA meeting. Peter Fournia, W2SKY and Don Kiser AC2EV will serve as Co-captains for this years event.

(From the December 2017 RARA Rag)

more: http://www.rmsc.org/science-museum/programs-and-events/item/483-science-alive-winter-break-edition

AWA - Youth Radio Fab Lab class

I thought you and your readers might be interested in a new youth program at the AWA Museum.  It's called Radio Fab Lab and it's a series of hands-on workshops for children ages 10-19.  In addition to learning-while-building, Boy Scouts in attendance will also earn their radio merit badge.  It's really shaping up to be a lot of fun for the children....as well as the instructors!

Attached please find a Radio Fab Lab Flyer and registration form.  Please circulate it.  This should prove to be a great gift idea for the children and grandchildren of local hams and Scouts.  The children will build electronics hardware at the Museum over a 12-week period, under the direction of experts, and then take the circuits home with them for further study.

Thanks!  73, Dean, NW2K