Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
Phillip BeallKeymaster
All,
Another Stanley 84-205 Jobmaster Screw and Bolt Cutter that is really clean looking has been listed on eBay if anyone is interested. Trust me, if you buy one of these you will only cry once as the saying goes. 😉
Phillip
Phillip BeallKeymasterAll,
One more thing – The older units used six AA batteries instead of four CR123A batteries. AA batteries are 1.5v so 6 x 1.5 = 9v. If you use the diagram above you will need to reduce the voltage accordingly. I am sure old heads will just go digging around in their supplies, but if you want a commercial off the shelf (COTS) solution, this $9 device will get it done for you.
73
Phillip
Phillip BeallKeymasterFollow Up:
In January this year, when we tried reserving the call sign W5W for WFD 2025, we found the organizers website http://www.1x1callsigns.org/ only ran years out to 2024. We wrote and asked them to reserve the call sign for us and advised of the problem with their website. Zero feedback from anyone was the result.
Today, over a month later with no reply and no reservation, I wrote a harsh email to the ARRL VEC telling them to get it fixed and to get our reservation done. I copied the world, including all the other VECs that use that site to reserve 1×1 calls and got a very nice reply from Allan Batteiger (WB5QNG) with W5YI-VEC in Plano. They are one of the organizations that I copied. He explained that when I originally wrote and highlighted the problem they tried to fix it, but the website was designed by some long-gone outfit and no matter what they tried they could not get it resolved. The whole site will have to be rewritten. None of that explains why nobody could bother to reply to my January email and/or get us manually reserved, but I do appreciate the explanation. And Allan did get us manually registered:
Nutty stuff… I was trying to reserve it for the Club (WB5RDD), but they did it with my call. I have followed up and will see if they can modify it. I made several suggestions for how to improve their site and do not know if they will be implemented or not, but we now have what we need. Hopefully when it is time to register for Summer Field Day 2025 they will have it fixed. If not, I at least now have a resource that can do it for us manually.
Phillip
Phillip BeallKeymasterFrom Charles Penry:
Phillip BeallKeymasterFrom Charles Penry:
We had a blast again this year at the Red River Valley Amateur Radio Club’s annual Winter Field Day event!
Attached is a map of Sections we worked and below is a copy of our log, showing our preliminary results, with a claimed score of 1470.
Total Contacts = 210
Total Points = 1,470W5W’s Contest Summary Report for WFD
Created by N3FJP’s Winter Field Day Contest Log
Version 2.8.7 http://www.n3fjp.comTotal Contacts = 210
Total Points = 1,470Operating Period: 2024/01/27 19:45 – 2024/01/28 18:58
Total op time (breaks > 30 min deducted): 12:50:42
Total op time (breaks > 60 min deducted): 14:11:53Avg Qs/Hr (breaks > 30 min deducted): 16.3
Total Contacts by Band and Mode:
Band CW Phone Dig Total %
—- — —– — —– —
160 0 1 0 1 0
80 0 1 0 1 0
40 0 50 0 50 24
20 0 67 0 67 32
15 0 39 0 39 19
10 0 51 0 51 24
2 0 1 0 1 0
— —– — —– —
Total 0 210 0 210 100Total Contacts by Section:
Section Total %
——- —– —
OH 16 8
OR 12 6
NC 9 4
GA 8 4
WWA 8 4
SV 7 3
UT 7 3
MI 6 3
NTX 6 3
AZ 5 2
NFL 5 2
NLI 5 2
SFL 5 2
TN 5 2
AB 4 2
CO 4 2
EB 4 2
MN 4 2
NNJ 4 2
VA 4 2
WNY 4 2
AL 3 1
ENY 3 1
EPA 3 1
IL 3 1
IN 3 1
ND 3 1
ONS 3 1
ORG 3 1
SF 3 1
SJV 3 1
WCF 3 1
WI 3 1
BC 2 1
CT 2 1
EMA 2 1
GH 2 1
ID 2 1
KY 2 1
LAX 2 1
MDC 2 1
ME 2 1
NE 2 1
NH 2 1
NV 2 1
SC 2 1
WPA 2 1
WY 2 1
AK 1 0
DX 1 0
EWA 1 0
IA 1 0
NM 1 0
NNY 1 0
ONN 1 0
PAC 1 0
PR 1 0
QC 1 0
RI 1 0
SNJ 1 0Total = 60
Total Contacts by State \ Prov:
State Total %
—– —– —
CA 22 10
OH 16 8
FL 13 6
NY 13 6
OR 12 6
NC 9 4
WA 9 4
GA 8 4
UT 7 3
MI 6 3
ON 6 3
TX 6 3
AZ 5 2
NJ 5 2
PA 5 2
TN 5 2
AB 4 2
CO 4 2
MN 4 2
VA 4 2
AL 3 1
IL 3 1
IN 3 1
ND 3 1
WI 3 1
BC 2 1
CT 2 1
ID 2 1
KY 2 1
MA 2 1
MD 2 1
ME 2 1
NE 2 1
NH 2 1
NV 2 1
SC 2 1
WY 2 1
AK 1 0
HI 1 0
IA 1 0
NM 1 0
QC 1 0
RI 1 0
SNJ 1 0Total = 43
Total Contacts by Country:
Country Total %
——- —– —
USA 193 92
Canada 12 6
Alaska 1 0
Belgium 1 0
Hawaii 1 0
Micronesia 1 0
Puerto Rico 1 0Total = 7
Total DX Miles (QSOs in USA not counted) = 38,190
Average miles per DX QSO = 2,246Average bearing to the entities worked in each continent.
QSOs in USA not counted.EU = 41
NA = 72
OC = 280Total Contacts by Continent:
Continent Total %
——— —– —
NA 207 99
OC 2 1
EU 1 0Total = 3
Total Contacts by CQ Zone:
CQ Zone Total %
——- —– —
05 73 35
04 69 33
03 63 30
01 1 0
08 1 0
14 1 0
27 1 0
31 1 0Total = 8
This is a great club event and I really appreciate all the support the club members provide for this and I hope to see all of you out there again next year!
73,
Charles Penry
WA5VHU
903-335-9313- This reply was modified 1 month, 4 weeks ago by Phillip Beall. Reason: Slightly reformatted text
- This reply was modified 1 month, 4 weeks ago by Phillip Beall.
Phillip BeallKeymasterAll,
Following the Club meeting yesterday (Saturday, January 27), I went to Cooper Lake State Park and met Charles (WA5VHU) and Cindy (KD5CCB) Penry, Mark Johnson (W5PTX) and Cliff Leath (KI5OPP). I spent a few hours with them, departing just before dark. I have to tell you – I had a blast and I think that Kathy and I will be taking our RV and meeting the group do to it next January.
While I was there contacts were made with HI, OH, FL, NJ and many other states. Multiple contacts in some of those states. Oh, and Ontario. Anyway, it was great. Unlike the scorching heat of the Summer Field Day, this was very pleasant. Here are a few pictures:
If you haven’t considered Winter Field Day before, let me encourage you to consider it for next January. Mark it on your calendar now – Saturday, January 25, 2025.
Phillip Beall (W5EBC)
January 18, 2024 at 5:08 am in reply to: Our Practical Uses of Amateur Radio – Part 1, by Mr. & Mrs. Alaska #41317Phillip BeallKeymasterAll,
In a continuation from yesterday, Our Practical Uses of Amateur Radio – Part 2, by Mr. & Mrs. Alaska lays out lots of really informative details on the “why” and “how” of ham radio. For someone new to the hobby or someone curious but not having jumped in yet, this is just a terrific primer. Whether describing participation in events to nets or joining a club, this piece covers it all. Sure, old timers will perhaps roll their eyes, but this post succinctly covers a lot of material to give someone new to the hobby the opportunity to go “Ah hah! Now that makes sense!”
Enjoy,
Phillip Beall (W5EBC)
Phillip BeallKeymasterJerry,
Thanks much for this update! How did you get the notice? Do you subscribe to get notification or do you just cruise by their site, use a webpage monitoring tool, what?
Much thanks,
Phillip Beall (W5EBC)
January 8, 2024 at 4:36 am in reply to: The ARRL will convene a significant Board of Director meeting soon. #41218Phillip BeallKeymasterAll,
Good morning everyone. It has taken me a while to get around to sending my thoughts on current events to ARRL leadership, but I finally fired something into the fray last night. Honestly, I suspect the kind of activity a handful of ARRL board members are currently engaging in are the exact reason that so many hams hold ARRL in such low regard. You don’t need to question me on that statement, just look at the low license holder membership in ARRL. From Google “There are approximately 700,000 licensed U.S. ham operators” and ” with more than 160,000 members, ARRL is the largest organization of radio amateurs in the world” To me, having barely over 20% of license holders as members is not exactly something to crow about. And what does that low participation rate mean? Hams that are not members of ARRL are not for a number of reasons and they vote with their dollars and non-membership. It has been related to me by one non-member that he gets the sense that ARRL doesn’t really exist to represent him. His view, as related to me, was that ARRL concentrates on bureaucratic ambition rather than membership service as the goal. Unfortunately, I suspect that many hams regard ARRL like polls and surveys show the population regards the US Congress. Overall Congress is held in great disfavor, but individual congressional representatives continually get reelected by their supporters. I suspect apathy plays a large role in that. Imagine how effective ARRL could be if we had a 70-80% participation rate…but I digress.
In North Texas we are well represented by our ARRL West Gulf directors and Section Manager. They produce information that, in my view, really shines light on important issues for their members. When I was pointed to the “Motion To Replace Bylaw 46” I shook my head in disbelief. I wish the ARRL membership that gave us the makers of this motion would read it and realize who they have representing them and what they are attempting to do. The maker, Director Art Zygielbaum (K0AIZ) and the second, Director Kristen McIntyre (K6WX), appear to me to have way – WAY – too much time on their hands. Who are these two?
“Dr. Arthur Zygielbaum is an Emeritus Research Associate Professor from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Natural Resources. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of California at Los Angeles and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering-Computers from the University of Southern California.” (source)
“Kristen McIntyre is currently a senior software engineer at Apple working on operating systems. She recently came back from being an entrepreneur in Japan. Previously, she was a researcher at Sun Microsystems Laboratories where she was researching robustness and emergent properties of large distributed computer systems.” (source)
OK, so a pattern is coming together for me. Both long-time California academic types, both extremely smart and accomplished and both…apparently interested in participating in adding to the power of ARRL bureaucrats. They may be fantastic people. I sincerely mean that. But I do hope the ARRL members in Nebraska and California start scrutinizing how these two people represent them, because if their body of work for the League consists of stuff like the suggested replacement code of conduct, I really question their devotion to core membership interests. One man’s opinion.
I am inserting my email to the ARRL board below. If you want to pass along your own thoughts on the matter I suggest that you concentrate on three key points:
1) Your support for ensuring people that paid membership dues with the expectation of getting QST or On The Air continue getting it through the duration of their membership cycle.
2) Your opposition to the “Motion to Replace By-Law 46”. It should simply be withdrawn. Absent that, it should be voted down.
3) Your support for ensuring a reduced cost membership option for youth. They are the future of our great hobby.
To make it easier for you to write the ARRL board, including the president, please click here. That will spawn you an email that is preaddressed to their email addresses. I suggest keeping it polite, even if (as with me) you are highly annoyed by the political shenanigans that appear to be driving #2 above.
73
Phillip Beall (W5EBC)
Email to ARRL Board
January 7, 2024
All,
My wife and I are both members of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). I am emailing this to the ARRL board of directors as a whole, as well as the president, so please let me start off by thanking each of you for serving and for the League making your contact information so easy to obtain. Some entities, for profit and non-profit alike, make it difficult to discern who their leadership is. You are to be commended for ARRL’s transparency in this regard. I am writing for several reasons, but in at least one regard I detect a drift away from transparency.
At the upcoming annual meeting I am in support of two of the three proposals, the Motion To Honor Membership Contracts and the Motion To Establish A Reduced Youth Dues Rate, but I am completely opposed to the Motion To Replace Bylaw 46 (New Code of Conduct) (contains 3 parts) – The Toe The Line or Be Removed Motion.[i]
My wife and I are both Life Members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Texas State Rifle Association (TSRA) and I have been an officer with a nationally recognized entity and served on its board of directors. I tell you these things so that you will better understand that I am very familiar with the ARRL governance and leadership structure. The NRA has been upside down on our Life Memberships for a number of years, as the cost of publishing and mailing magazines has subsequently far outstripped what we paid for our Life Memberships. And while I always personally like a “good deal” like anyone else, I do recognize that NRA is having budget issues that can at least partly be tied to the Life Membership program. So, when I saw that ARRL had changed the annual program to where dues no longer covered QST or On The Air I had two reactions: 1) While I can personally afford to pay for both dues and QST separately, many members likely cannot. 2) I hoped that your change was not done in a manner that disenfranchised members that are currently receiving QST or On The Air. We support the Motion To Honor Membership Contracts as it appears to directly address that matter. I am concerned if this motion is not fully supported by the leadership you could run afoul of a number of legal issues related to your fiduciary responsibilities. Even if legal counsel told you that it was OK, I submit that if you support this motion and secure its passage you and everyone else will be well served.
My earlier reference to transparency is directly addressed by the Motion To Replace Bylaw 46 (New Code of Conduct). In my former board capacity I would personally have bristled at anyone even suggesting the language of that motion. Completely over the top and unnecessary. I can only imagine the palace intrigue that spawned that piece of work and what it might help to facilitate. Seriously? I cannot imagine anyone but the author, with pride of authorship bias, supporting that motion. When I read the League’s ARRL POLICY ON BOARD GOVERNANCE AND CONDUCT OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND VICE DIRECTORS[ii] I am of the mind that the current Bylaw 46 is perfectly sufficient. Anything can be tweaked, but “Duties of a Director Overview, Duty of Care, Duty of Loyalty and Duty of Obedience” – are you kidding me? Did the directors that are making that motion fully explain this to anyone prior to introducing it? I see this as some sort of heavy-handed power grab by someone somewhere. I am not completely sure what is motivating it, but I totally oppose the replacement of the ARRL By-Law’s[iii] current Bylaw 46 with the Motion To Replace Bylaw 46 (New Code of Conduct) and associated documents.
There have been many changes in ham radio over the last fifty years. The reduction from five licenses to three and the elimination of Morse Code requirements entirely was both contentious and for a reason – Ham radio as a hobby was moribund and dying. Those changes accomplished what we all wanted, a return of growth of the hobby, albeit slow and unsteady growth. For a fact we must attract youth to the hobby. Youth that get smartphones at a very early age and visually stimulating smartphone and video games are both an impediment to developing ham radio interest. As a result, I believe it is imperative that we continue with youth outreach in every regard. This is but one reason that I support the Motion To Establish A Reduced Youth Dues Rate. Economics are already a barrier to entry for many. ARRL must do everything possible to make sure that is not the case with regard to youth joining ARRL and getting a magazine to help retain their interest.
Folks, as I peruse ARRL governing documents I get a weird sense, not unlike a sense that I got at times when serving in my board capacity at the other entity. Using the League’s vernacular, it is my sense that the “CEO” David Minster, NA2AA is perhaps trying to insulate himself from responsibility to the owners of ARRL, the dues paying members. He is an employee, you set the policy and I hope, I sincerely hope, that none of you has lost site of the fact that both the By-Laws and policies say that all steps are to be taken in furtherance of the goals and of objectives of the ARRL and its members (emphasis added). I suggest each of you look in the mirror the next time that you are brushing your teeth and ask yourself this singular question “Is everything that I do in my capacity with ARRL in furtherance of the members wishes?” If you wince and think to yourself “Well, maybe not.”, then you need to make sure and get yourself lined up with the ability to say “Absolutely.” My method for sniffing out whether I should or should not support something or someone was to ask if it was a news story tomorrow, front page, above the fold, headline and article; if all my friends and family read it would I be proud of my depiction? I always forced myself to the position that the answer to that had to be a hard yes, even if it was in conflict with my own personal wishes. I served the members. You do too.
Best Regards,
Phillip S. Beall (W5EBC)
ARRL Member # 2000242363Phillip BeallKeymasterJerry,
That is some good stuff there. Thank you for that easy to follow way to quickly isolate sources of interference!
Phillip
Phillip BeallKeymasterSteven,
When I made the post the .com was not pointing to the other one, but it is now. Maybe a hosting issue that has been resolved. In any case, it is working. Of note, we do the same thing. If you click on http://www.rrvarc.com see what happens. 😉 I never understood why our website was set up using a radio call sign that is not intuitive at all to non-hams…or hams for that matter. It also doesn’t just roll off of one’s tongue. LOL Next year we will swap it around and make the Club address http://www.rrvarc.org and any combination of wb5rdd.xxx or rrvarc.xxx will get you to our site.
As for the Winter Field Day, I don’t do Facebook so I went to my “go to guy” for such things, Mark Johnson (W5PTX). He says:
We are indeed on the map as Red River Valley ARC with the W5W call. It’s not showing our about info yet. Maybe Monday, but it’s not super important. It’s a generic invite type message. Sabine Valley will be on the other side of the lake. We all should be good to go.
I plan to attend the Club meeting and then take a drive down there. I may stop and get a big bag of burgers and take those with me. But I’ll plan on going down there for awhile. I will encourage a caravan from the meeting if I can get any takers.
Phillip
- This reply was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by Phillip Beall.
- This reply was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by Phillip Beall.
Phillip BeallKeymasterGuys,
I am having some trouble loading the very first link above. I think maybe their redirect isn’t working correctly. Their actual website is https://winterfieldday.org/, so a .org and not a .com. See if that works better for you. Charles, did you go and register the Club WFD details with them? UPDATE: I was told in another conversation that we are indeed registered.
Thanks,
Phillip
- This reply was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by Phillip Beall. Reason: Updated
Phillip BeallKeymasterMark,
I plan to go and be there at least part of the day. Between now and then, even with the busy holidays and your retail uptick, I would like to set up a time where I can meet you and tinker with the generator.
I am no ace small engine mechanic, but I suspect the carburetor is gummed up. Those gensets are supposed to be run under max load for an hour every month. Few people do that and the combination of disuse and ethanol gas, which attracts water; I have personally had lots of issues with this. I think with some fuel treatment in the tank, and us thoroughly cleaning the carb with Berryman B12, we might be able to get it running. Let’s talk about a day to give it a try.
Phillip
November 30, 2023 at 6:08 am in reply to: Two men on the run after escaping the Fannin County Jail #40757Phillip BeallKeymasterAll,
Here – Fannin County Jail escapees in custody after four-day manhunt – is an update on the escaped criminals. Both Ramon Perez and Raymond Ross are now secured. The article is short and my take aways are: Make sure your Arlo, Ring, whatever, gear batteries are fully charged and have the correct date and time programmed into them.
Be safe,
Phillip
Phillip BeallKeymasterAll,
Soon I will try and get a SKYWARN page up on our site so that anyone with any questions about that program, upcoming training opportunities, etc., will have a “one stop shop” for information on the topic.
Today I receive a reply from Jennifer Dunn, the “Warning Coordination Meteorologist” with National Weather Service Fort Worth. She answered some very specific questions I had posed. For brevity sake I will post the edited information as a Q&A below:
Q: Is the Comet MetEd SKYWARN® Spotter Training course certification one that fully qualifies a ham operator to the Fort Worth National Weather Service office standards? Here is a link to that program: https://www.meted.ucar.edu/education_training/course/23
A: Yes, taking the Comet online course does qualify someone as “Spotter”. We do tell those who have finished the online Comet course that they can identify themselves as a Trained Spotter to our office. We still encourage them to attend a local SKYWARN class to learn more about our local hazards and reporting methods.
Q: If the Comet course above does not fully qualify someone to the Fort Worth NWS standards, is there an online only option to get fully qualified?
A: We do offer online SKYWARN classes, usually in February and March. These classes will be posted with the rest of our in-person schedule by the end of the December. We do offer a certificate with the online course. We also have past recordings of SKYWARN classes on the SKYWARN webpage mentioned above for review, but they don’t include the certificate.
Q: We know the Fort Worth NWS office has done some January SKYWARN classes in Paris previously. Do you have a date set for January 2024 so that we can start advertising it to our Club members?
A: Lamar County will not be hosting a class in 2024. Hopkins, Fannin, and Grayson are in the rotation to host classes in 2024. Again, the schedule of classes won’t be posted until late December.
So, there you have it. You MAY take the online Comet course at the link above and then consider yourself to be a storm “spotter”. They recommend that you take one of their courses to complement that certification and each Spring they offer their own online course. Finally, Lamar County will not be getting a lecture in 2024. When we know the dates for the Hopkins, Fannin and Grayson lectures we will pass that information along.
73
Phillip
- This reply was modified 4 months ago by Phillip Beall. Reason: Edited for clarity
- This reply was modified 4 months ago by Phillip Beall. Reason: Replaced a word for clarity
-
AuthorPosts