May 14 Meeting
Empowerment 101 “Continued”
As the the electronics world shrinks, as circuits become tiny, there seems to be little if anything we can do anymore to fix or adjust our radios or support equipment. As a result, many people have forgotten or never learned some very essential skills, like soldering.
At our April 9 meeting, we had an excellent presentation by Greg W9GAK on various soldering tools, tips and techniques, along with hands-on practice at several soldering stations.
(Greg’s presentation is here, and a soldering tips handout is here.)
We are calling this “Empowerment 101” because we are bringing the hands back to ham radio! Hands-on projects that will give you the confidence to fix, build, even repair the electronics in your shack.
At our May 14 meeting, we will pick up where we left off, with discussion of more advanced soldering techniques, accompanied by a presentation from Rob K9RST on kit building - where to find kits, tools you may need, etc. Plus additional hands-on practice opportunities. We intend to have soldering stations set up for practice starting at 6:00p.
Plus we’ll also preview things to check out at the Dayton Hamvention this year - including kits.
Please join us Tuesday, May 14, 7:30p, at the Heller Nature Center, 2821 Ridge Rd. in Highland Park. Bring a friend!
Upcoming meetings:
June 11: Easy-Up Antennas; Pre-Field Day Review
July 9: Annual Fox Hunt
Get Ready for Field Day!
June 22-23
Grove Cultural Center
100 E. Old Mill Rd.
Lake Forest
Mark your calendars - save the date - June 22-23. NSRC Field Day will be held at the Grove Cultural Campus, 100 E. Old Mill Rd. in Lake Forest. Field Day is a combination emergency preparedness exercise, operating contest, and social experience. The Saturday picnic will be from 4p-7p. This is a major event on the Club calendar, so make plans now to participate.
NSRC 2012 Field Day Video
This is a short video showing some of the activities at the 2012 annual ARRL radio emergency event, called Field Day. North Shore Radio Club created three HF radio stations, a VHF weak signal station and a GOTA, Get on the Air station for newer operators. This is ham radio’s premiere summer event. The goal is to contact as many stations as we can in a 24 hour period, so it is part contact, part social and all fun, especially when the weather behaves!
Note: Links from the March 12 Emergency Communications meeting:
(Coutesy of Du Page County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management: Craig KC9HWK, David N5VJF, Dave KC9YLA)
The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is the location-based emergency notification system. Here is a link to a five-minute video that will provide details as to how this new service works:
http://www.fema.gov/integrated-public-alert-warning-system
For those amateur radio operators who are interested in learning more about communications interoperability, below are links to the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) and its equivalent for the State of Illinois, the Illinois Interoperability Field Operations Guide (I2FOG). These documents are available for download as PDF files.
SAFECOM (Department of Homeland Security, Office of Emergency Communications and Office for Interoperabiltiy and Compatibility)
http://www.safecomprogram.gov/default.aspx
NIFOG (National Interoperability Field Operations Guide)
http://www.dhs.gov/national-interoperability-field-operations-guide
I2FOG (Illinois Interoperability Field Operations Guide)
http://www.state.il.us/iema/SCIP/IIFOG-2012.pdf
Feb 12 and Nov 13 Meeting Presentations Can Be Accessed in the Resources/Downloads section here.
Educating the educators about ham radio - NSRC at Yerkes
On Jan. 19, several NSRC members volunteered to be part of an extension program that Yerkes Observatory (U. Chicago) offers to science teachers to find new ways to bring science, technology, engineering and math to the classroom. Read more in the K9RST blog.
NSRC JNOS BBS/Packet Cluster/Callsign Lookup/WX Server and Winlink Servers Upgraded
UPDATE 12/17/12: The JNOS BBS/Packet Cluster/Callsign Lookup engine and Winlink Server has been upgraded to a new PC and more reliabile internet connection. Please give it a try.
The NSRC Tech Team welcomes you to our new NS9RC-1 JNOS packet BBS system on 145.01 MHz with 30W of power at over 100’ high from Techny. This isn’t your traditional BBS system. It has wormhole connections to other BBS stations in the USA, Canada, and Australia. It has a DX cluster and a feed from Weather Underground for weather conditions and forecasts. As usual, all you need is a 1200 bps TNC, a VHF radio, antenna, and a computer with a terminal program.
Please visit our Tech Blog to learn more about using JNOS for the first time.
We also have a working NS9RC-10 Winlink RMS Packet server on 145.61 MHz 1200 baud for sending and receiving email over RF. Learn more about it here.
Northern Cook County Skywarn Net Frequency Change
Northern Cook County Skywarn (WX9NC) is moving its spotter nets to our own 147.345+ MHz repeater with a tone PL of 107.2 Hz effective this spring. Our 2m repeater has much improved coverage and we hope that more hams will be able to participate in spotting severe weather for the National Weather Service. Severe Weather Net controllers for 2013 are still needed! For more information or to volunteer your services visit here.