Friday, December 30, 2011

NOAA S.A.M.E. Codes

Most of the NOAA weather alert radios are equipped with the SAME code feature - Specific Area Message Encoding.  You need to know the code for your county (or counties) and then how to program the  code(s) into the radio.

NOAA SAME Codes (States):  http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/indexnw.htm

NOAA SAME Codess (TN):  :http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/CntyCov/nwrTN.htm

W4HKL

Thursday, December 22, 2011

73 Magazine Now Online

The old 73 Magazine is being scanned to PDF and placed online over at www.archive.org. Free to read online or for download. Don't forget to hit the tip jar at archive.org if you're so inclined.



Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Remember Our Troops

Please take the time to visit the USO and see what you can do to give a little bit of home to those who are sacrificing so much for us.



Saturday, December 10, 2011

Antenna Weather Arrives!

Now that it's getting to be "Antenna Weather," its time to consider getting some new wire up in the trees...


Here are some links which deal with two of my favorite 80 meter antennas: the Full-Wave loop and the Half-Wave End-Fed Inverted L.


Loops:

http://www.hamuniverse.com/kl7jr80loop.html

N1SU posted an article on loops:  http://n1su.com/loop.html
N4KC has a great article on his horizontal loop:  http://www.donkeith.com/n4kc/article.php?p=12




End Fed Half Waves / Inverted L's:

http://aa5tb.com/efha.html

http://www.eham.net/articles/22882

HB9DSU' observations on the Inverted L: http://www.hb9dsu.com/miracle-dx-antenna/

For me, the last word in most antenna suppositions comes from W4RNL (SK).  Google L.B. Cebik's article "My Five Favorite Backyard Wire Antennas." He discusses the successful deployment of Inverted L antennas in considerable detail.  He also discusses dipoles and loops for good measure.  In fact, many of the articles above cite W4RNL in some way or the other.  http://www.cebik.com/radio.html  will give you some background and a great place to start.

W4HKL

Nasa Video Reveals Invisible Object Orbiting Mercury

Did a Nasa video reveal a cloaked alien mothership after it was hit by a passing solar flare?  Probably something more suited for the ARUFON Net guys who meet on 3977.7

It's still odd, though.  The video is about half-way down the story.  It takes about a minute to get to the focal point.


Link:  http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/mysterious-planet-sized-object-spotted-near-mercury-154443870.html


W4HKL

10 Meter Contest This Weekend

There's an  ARRL 10 meter contest.this weekend on the 10th and 11th of December.

Here's the link:  http://www.arrl.org/10-meter



W4HKL

Eclipse of the Moon Streamed Live

I'm late to the party on this one, but you can still watch the Eclipse of the Moon streamed live for a few more hours from an observatories in Hawaii, Australia, Asia, etc...



W4HKL

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Morning Nets To Be Archived

I (N4UHZ) am now using the recording option for the net. I started it today, don't know how much space it will let me archive, but I would like to save recordings for a week at a time. So if you would like to hear the recordings, go to www.livestream.com/tnphonenet and the recordings will be under TV monitor on the page.

This is really working well and I thank Steve for the web page and allowing me to do this!

73, Jim N4UHZ

Consider The Meter When Tracking Down Household Noise Sources

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

HamNation

HamNation
 Ham Nation: Twit.tv/hn


Back in the days of Tech TV, I was hopelessly addicted to the computer and technology show, The Screen Savers, hosted by Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton.  Good Times.  But networks get bought and sold and eventually Tech TV and The Screen Savers were no more.

Despondent, I eventually ran across shows and internet blogs where I can catch up somewhat with my favorite tech hosts.  Kevin and Alex hosted Diggnation...  Leo was still doing his Tech Guy radio show and the others popped up from time to time.

But Leo had a plan...  to eventually start what he calls "the CNN of Tech" and from his spare bedroom/broadcast center TWIT.TV was born.  TWIT has continued to grow and is now one of the premiere online tech content providers.  Revision3 is up there, too, but Leo has really put together a quality organization with a look and feel consistent throughout all the TWIT.TV shows.  And he's done it all the old-fashioned way - hard work, knowledge of his craft, and a true desire to put out a quality product.  And to beat it all, for years Leo has desired to become an Amateur Radio Operator.  Well, with the help of his friends Bob Heil and Gordon West, Leo finally accomplished his goal and of course, he immediately put out a great weekly show on Ham Radio called HamNation.  I try to keep up with it each week and have yet to be disappointed.  Most of the material presented is for the new to intermediate operator, but there are many interviews, etc., that will appeal to everyone.  Highly recommended.

Steve, W4HKL

80 Meter Propagation

HFRADIO.ORG has some really neat posts on radio propagation...  including everyone's favorite band!

Worth a look... lots of graphics and links to all things which relate to how well radio waves travel to and fro.

73, W4HKL

De-mystifying HF Radio Propagation and Modeling :: HFRadio.org


Radio Propagation : Space Weather : Sunspot Cycle Information


(If you like it, don't forget the tip jars at the top of the page!  And, no, I don't have anything to do with hfradio.org!))

Monday, November 21, 2011

It's About Net Time

Just a short survey dealing with Amateur Etiquette.
    
No particular reason for this post... but kudos to David, WA4VVX, for his professional demeanor in avoiding a potentially unpleasant situation the other day    ;-)


Survey question:  What is the best way to convince another operator to surrender the frequency?

Link:  Take an Online Survey
Note...  this survey is for grins and giggles only. We should all be grown-ups on the air.

Also, here's a link to the IARU manual Ethics and Operating Procedures For The Radio Amateur (online PDF file.)

I recommend Section III.9 : Conflict Situations  (pages 58 through  60.)  It's written with DX in mind but applicable to other situations as well.  I learned a few things while skimming through it.

Normally, I'm an agent provocateur in such matters, but I'm trying to be the better man.

W4HKL

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Regional Repeater / Club List

Update: Instead of attempting to collect and collate information on individual repeaters, I will simply link to regional clubs or individuals which have listings of repeaters in their area. Individual repeater info may also be listed if needed.

Send info, etc. to w4hkl@live.com.


Steve, W4HKL




Repeater List

East TN---------------

Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville W4BBB Blog
W4KEV Repeaters

Middle TN------------

West TN--------------


Kentucky----------



N Georgia------------



N Alabama-----------


N Miss.--------------




N Carolina-----------




N4UHZ Live Feed of 3980 Phone Net

Jim, N4UHZ, is providing a live feed of the 3980 TN Phone Net on Livestream.com!

I have put up a mini-version on the main 3980.us page along with a link to his TN Phone Net Livestream page. I'm not sure of all the times James will have the feed up but it looks like he will definitely be running it for the morning sessions!

This is a great service to the 3980 community and Jim is "the Man" for doing this!

Link to TN Phone Net Livestream Page: http://livestre.am/18yJX

tnphonenet on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Steve, W4HKL

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Net Schedule


Tennessee Phone Net @ 3980 kHz

The Tennessee Phone Net meets at the following times:

Monday

0540

KD4DHC, "DAVE'

Tuesday

0540

KD4DHC, "DAVE'

Wednesday

0540

KD4DHC, "DAVE'

Thursday

0540

K4CMY, "TOM"

Friday

0540

K4CMY, "TOM"

Central Time

Monday

0645

W4SQE, "ANDY"

Tuesday

0645

NY4O "WHEATIE"

Wednesday

0645

NY4O "WHEATIE"

Thursday

0645

AD4LP, "JACK"

Friday

0645

N4UHZ, "JIM"

Saturday

0800

WA4VVX, "DAVID"

Sunday

0800

WA4VVX, "DAVID"

Central time

  • Holidays are covered same as week days (same people, same days) except one net meets at 0800.
  • Net Manager for the Early and Regular morning nets is NY4O "WHEATIE". 615-595-0378 or 615-788-0042 (c),
  • KD4DHC, Dave calls the net from Toronto KS, Summer and from Avon Park FL, Winters.

For the evening Net:

Monday

630 PM

WA4VVX, "DAVID"

Tuesday

630 PM

AD4LP, "JACK"

Wednesday

630 PM

KJ4WS, "WADE"

Thursday - Saturday

630 PM

KB4VEL "GERRY"

Evening Net Manager is KB4VEL "GERRY"


Note: copied from the tnarrl website

1st Post

Possible future home of the Tennessee Phone Net.