Hello everybody and welcome back to the Everything Ham Radio Podcast! In this episode we have Ian Kahn back with us as a hopefully at least semi-regular co-host.

NOTE: There is a little behind the scenes part after the closing music on this episode. My wife asked if I would keep her in the episode, so how could I say no… 🙂

Tech Corner

Winter Field Day runs for 24 hours during the last full weekend in January each year from 1900 UTC (2pm EST) Saturday to 1900 UTC (2pm EST) Sunday. For 2018, the dates are January 27th and 28th. Station set-up may commence no earlier than 1900 UTC (2pm EST) on Friday, January 26th. Station setup may consume no more than 12 hours total. How & when you schedule/spend those 12 hours is up to you.

Entry categories: (..if operating as a group under one call, all stations in your entry must fit the category you choose. Also see further clarification in “definitions” below)

Indoor: Operation from inside a remote, insulated, heated (or cooled, depending on your local weather), and weather-protected structure where an Amateur station is normally not available. (Park buildings/cabins, community center, EOC, senior center, club shack, etc).

Outdoor: Operation from a location partly or fully exposed to the elements and at least 30 feet away from your normal station location and not using any part of a previously erected antenna system or ham station. A campground, park pavilion, canopy, picnic table, tent, pop- up camper, or a backyard shed/tent/deck, etc may be used. Operation from a non-insulated car/truck/van/boat (mobile or not) is considered “outdoor”.

Home: Operation from inside a home or inside another structure attached to a home that could or would be the usual location of an Amateur station (garage, sunroom, etc), generally using a previously erected antenna system. A “Home” entrant may still be eligible to claim the “alternate power” bonus if not using commercial power. Use of any pre -existing (on site) or permanently installed antenna system or station components renders your station a “Home” station.

Entry Class: your entry “class” is a number designated by the number of stations in your entry that are capable of simultaneous transmission. (Explained further in summary below)

QSO Points: 1 point per Phone QSO, 2 points per CW & Digital QSO… Busted exchanges will be penalized by 1 additional point for each missed exchange or call sign. Duplicate contacts (same call, band, and mode) will not be counted, but will not be penalized.

Mode and Band Multipliers: Count 1 multiplier for each mode operated per band. For example, operating CW and Phone on 80, 40, 15 and 10 meters, CW and PSK31 on 20m, FM on 2meters and 440 would be a total multiplier of 12x.

Power Output Multipliers: >100W = 1x, 100W or less = 2x, QRP = 4x (QRP defined below)

Bonus points:

1. You may claim 1500 bonus points if no commercial power is used in powering your WFD station. (see “alternate power” definitions below). Your logging-only computer may use any available power. You may claim 1500 bonus points if your operation is “Outdoors” (see definition below). You may claim 1500 bonus points if your operation is not a “Home” operation (remote). You may claim 1500 bonus points for making a QSO via Satellite (once only, see Satellite rule). Example: Operating outdoors on your back deck table more than 30 feet from your usual station without commercial power and using a temporary WFD antenna, set up within the allowed timeframe, would be 1500 + 1500 = 3000 bonus points (outdoors, no commercial power), while operating from a campground tent using commercial power and making one Satellite QSO would be 1500 + 1500 + 1500 = 4500 bonus points (outdoors, not home, and Satellite).

Note: There must have been at least 1 valid QSO in order to claim any bonus points. This is to ensure that someone claiming bonus points without actually making any contacts cannot win a category! Bonus points may not be claimed unless all stations covered in your entry qualify as well.

Logging Only Computers may use commercial power if you declare the Alternate or emergency power bonus

QRP: CW = 5 watts maximum carrier. Phone/Digi = 10W maximum peak power.

Upcoming ARRL Board Meeting Concerns

Letter to ARRL about the Board of Directors upcoming meeting – AmateurRadio.com

My ARRL Voice

Hara Area

ARRL News Article about the below video

Amazing the difference a year makes.

Popcorn containers

Zamboni still there?!

Can Drinks, Beer Bottles, Cherries, Oh My!

Employee Records?!?!?

Place is a mess with junk EVERYWHERE

Apartment with personal stuff just left

Hamvention 2018 News

More available space at Hamvention 2018

News Release December 20, 2017

We are pleased to announce The Greene County Commissioners and the Greene County Fair Board have approved the construction of a new building at the Fairground/Expo Center.

Greene County officials have decided to move forward with construction of a new building as it will continue to expand their presence in the region as a world class Exposition Center!

Hamvention certainly benefits from the decision to expand the Expo Center footprint. Construction is planned to be complete ahead of Hamvention 2018 and will be used for the event.

Additionally, another building on the property previously known as Fairgrounds Furniture, is being vacated and will be available for use by Hamvention 2018.

More details regarding the building sizes will be forthcoming but Hamvention is told the floor space added will cover an area larger than the tents Hamvention used in 2017.

DXpeditions

Bouvet Island DXpedition – Jan/Feb 2018 – #2 Most Wanted DX Entity – ClubLog

Baker Island DXpedition – June/July 2018 – #4 Most Wanted DX Entity – CLubLog

Misc Topics

Ham Radio Podcast App

West Mountain Radio

The Epic PWRgate is West Mountain Radio’s 3rd generation power gate product. It uses advanced technology to achieve a very low power loss and has maximum flexibility to charge modern batteries.

Epic PWRgate is a 12 volt backup power system rated at 40 amperes continuous from either a Power Supply or a Battery.

Connected equipment will instantly switch to battery during a power blackout or power supply failure.

Low loss PWRgate provides forward voltage drop of only 0.05 volts.

USB port access to monitor system or to change charge parameters.

Program for specific battery types.

Supports smart charging of either Lead Acid or Li-Ion battery charging up to 10A.

Optional direct solar panel input for battery charging (all chemistries). Solar panel VOC must be <= 30V.

Can be programmed for vehicle use to suspend charging when the alternator is off.

Complete LED status indicators.

Battery charge suspend button to eliminate current draw or charger noise for 30 minutes.

Optional temperature probe to control charging based on battery temperature.

Solid, durable construction in an aluminum case. Includes mounting holes for convenient and secure use in mobile units.

Uses Anderson Powerpole ® connectors.

As yall know, I’m sure, I have been making signs for my listeners for a couple months now. I have a few and have really enjoyed myself doing it. You may also know that I have been trying to find a way to bring in some extra money for my family after we adopted our 4 kids back in July.

They say that if you do what you love you will love you job. That is very true. I love what I do and I love my job, most of the time. I also love doing woodworking, so why not do that to bring in some extra money for my family, right? So that is what we are doing. My wife and I are starting our own business, making handcrafted items, more than just signs.

I am in the process of making a website for it, and plan to launch it March 1st. Until then, if you looking for something with your call sign on it to put in your ham shack? Maybe you are wanting something that you can put outside you RV while you are camping with your name on it. How about a sign that has a quote on it of some sorts.

Please shoot an email to me at sales@2xcproducts.com and let me know what you are interested in and I will get you setup with a reasonably priced item.

KB3IHF QSL Cards

Do You Need Some QSL Cards? Check out KB3IHF QSL Cards. When you place your order make sure you mention that you heard about him on the Everything Ham Radio Podcast. If you do I will get a small commission on your purchase.

Thanks for stopping by today. If you like what you have heard on my podcast or read on my blog and would like to know how you can give your support, check out the Support page! You can make a one time donation through Paypal, become a monthly contributor through Patreon or shop on Amazon through my affiliate link.

If you have not done so already, please subscribe to my site so that you will receive emails when I publish a new post or podcast episode. It’s super easy! Just fill out the form below:

Email Address First Name Last Name Call Sign Sign Me Up!

Once you click on the Sign Me Up button, you will get an email from me with a link that you will need to click on. Once you click on that link, you will start receiving emails from me. I hate spam as much as anyone does, so I promise you that I will not sell or rent your email address to anyone!

Also, check me out on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. Links to these and all the other social media sites that I am on can be found in the menu at the top of the page under Social.

Until next time…

73 de Curtis, K5CLM









Creator and Owner of Everything Ham Radio Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/everythinghamradio www.everythinghamradio.com

Share this: Email

Print



Tweet



