Merry Christmas!

Made a trip to AES this weekend, and picked up a new MFJ-1422 2m/440 dualband mobile antenna– so one more piece of the mobile operating puzzle is in place. I’m able to reach the 2m repeaters in town, the wide area repeaters in Baraboo, and out as far as Cambridge and Hollandale. KC9JME also got the same antenna for Christmas, and she was able to reach the MARA repeater going south past the Dane/Rock County (Wisconsin) line. We’re both using the same radio (Alinco HT, ~5 watts).

Since she was coming back the same way today, Danielle and I decided to try getting in touch on simplex on her return trip. We weren’t able to meet up on simplex though. I was able to hear someone at one point (although couldn’t copy callsigns), and she was able to hear them a little better (but still unreadable). So I suspect that if we had each been running enough power, or if I had been on higher ground, we might have been able to make it. Maybe.

It’s cold on Christmas in Wisconsin. My equipment performed well, even though we didn’t make contact on simplex. After 45 minutes I was starting to get chilly; but based on today I’m sure I could deploy myself to a parking lot and operate from the car in emergency mode for a while, perhaps even all day if I had somewhere to go inside and get warm. A gas station parking lot worked pretty well. I think a rest area, truck stop, or office/medical building parking lot would work equally as well. We’ll definitely be doing more experimenting with the new antennas, and I’m working on a list of potential operating locations that are on higher ground.

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It really wasn’t a surprise when the FCC dropped the Morse code requirement. The idea has been on the table for a looooong time, and recently had been mentioned more than once by the ARRL as “well maybe we’ll hear something soon.” I’d been monitoring arrl.org for news, and I even have a Google Alert set up scanning the web for announcements. For me, it’s a big deal because I’ll get to finally work on HF. More bands = more fun. For the rest of the world… eh… maybe not such a big deal. My Google Alert has turned up exactly three web news hits (not counting ARRL), all of which are wire copies of the same article. One friend, upon hearing the news, said “You guys really still use morse code? Really?”

I’ll admit to having a lot of nostalgic feelings for the old days of radio, because I’ve always been into radio. Ever since my Dad helped me build a crystal radio kit when I was a kid, and ever since we always had a CB radio in the car on trips up north, I’ve always loved the sound of static. I was a Ground Radio Repairman during my Air Force career. I’ve worked with HF a lot. But… I’ve never really been “bitten” by the code bug enough to take part of my time to study the code and pass the test.

Someone else asked me “so… are you going to learn the code and use CW now that you don’t have to?” My answer was “No. Not intentionally.” I have a computer that does a pretty nice job of sending and receiving Morse code, meaning that I can operate CW just fine. I may eventually pick up the code, just from listening; but it’s very unlikely I’ll ever use an actual key.

So I’m not much of a romantic when it comes to the code… I still love playing with radios, and the FCC’s action gives me more room to do that. Will it mean more people get into ham radio? I hope so. Will the Novice/Tech HF bands be crowded? I hope that happens, too. More bands for me + more people to talk to = more fun for me. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

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Came across an interesting article from ArgusLeader.com, describing the effects of an ice storm that struck this time last year.

More than 11,100 power poles snapped or collapsed beneath the weight of ice, up to 20 inches of snow, and driving winds. As much as 10,000 miles of power lines fell or sagged or were otherwise affected.

In the aftermath, electricity went dead in 157 towns and throughout the countryside, leaving 56,500 residences, businesses and farms with no power.

Earlier today, the forecast for Madison, WI included a chance of freezing rain tonight. The temperature is still above freezing (barely), so it’s still only raining; but it got me thinking, what am I going to do if an ice storm hits here? I have my handheld battery, and a couple of lanterns that run on batteries. I have a weather radio, and a boom box that also run on batteries. What I don’t have is a) a source of heat, and b) anywhere close to enough juice to run my computer, HT, and HF rig for a short time, much less 72 hours.

I don’t have an answer to what I would do if I had to function for 72 hours without heat and power. It’s a question I’m doing some thinking about, though. A small generator for my one room apartment may not be such a bad idea….

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from ARRLWeb (full article text):

End of an Era: FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes

NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 15, 2006 — In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes. The Commission adopted, but hasn’t yet released, the long-awaited Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 05-235, the “Morse code” proceeding.

Yes, I know, every single ham blogger has posted this already, but I’m posting it again because it directly affects me. I’m a Technician class operator who happens to own an Icom IC-735 HF rig, which I bought years ago intending to someday learn the code. Since then, the ‘735 has given me many hours of enjoyment as a pretty nice receiver. Soon I’ll be able to actually use it for its intended purpose, yakking it up with people in faraway places, which is pretty cool.

However, I find it interesting that (at least so far), the rule change doesn’t alter the frequency and mode allocations below 50mhz for us Technicians. As a Tech, three of the five bands I’ll have access to will still be CW only. The only HF phone privs I’ll get are from 28.3-28.5mhz, which isn’t a lot, but it’s more than I have now, and I’ll do the happy dance because I’m going to be able to actually operate there.

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I work in a weather information vacuum.

In the office where I work, we’re restricted from accessing the internet from our workstations. We are not allowed to receive email from outside the company. We’re also restricted from having anything at our desks that “plugs in” that’s not work related. As far as I know, there is one NOAA weather radio in the building; and in 2 1/2 years, I’ve never heard a building-wide weather alert go out. (Although we do have a yearly tornado drill.) Generally, the best way to tell what the weather is doing is look out the window. Which is a valuable tool, but doing so tends to attract supervisors who want you to get back to work. So I need a way to keep an eye on what’s happening outside, but keep working in the meantime.

One way to do that is read the daily weather report before I head out for work. (Actually, I read the forecast the night before, too.) I have a bookmark set to the NWS local forecast for Madison, WI. That way, I have some idea what to expect. Some days I’m running late though, and I might forget to check the forecast. Or, what the forecast says at 0600 when I read it might no longer apply later in the day; I sometimes work from 0700 to 1600, and then work my part time job at night until 2230 or later.

What I really need is a way to go about my business, and worry about the weather only when necessary– without having to monitor NOAA weather radio unless something really is going on. (I can listen to weather radio on my HT, but that drains the battery which I might need later. Remember, no 12v power supply at my desk.)

In order to get around the “no email” restriction at work, I have an email address for my cellphone. (I can also send and receive SMS text messages on my phone.) So I can receive emailed weather alerts, but they’re usually loaded down with lots of text and advertising that are just too much for a phone. Fortunately, Channel3000.com has a service that sends the title of the weather alert, and the effective times to your cellphone’s email address. (Make sure you check the “Send alert to pager/phone” box.) I’ve been using the service for over a year, and it works very well.

However, my cellphone’s email address isn’t something I want to give out; once it’s out in the wild, it’s liable to end up on some spammer’s list of addresses. So I added a layer between my phone and Channel3000. I entered my Google Gmail address when I signed up for the weather alerts. Now the alert goes from Channel3000.com to Gmail, where I have a filter set up to autoforward the message to my cellphone. End result is I get notified whenever a severe weather statement, advisory, watch or warning is issued or updated. I don’t get the full text; just that a bulletin has been sent, which lets me know that I need to go find out what’s really happening (or is going to happen soon).

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