My club had a fox hunt yesterday, a group of us were standing around chatting and I mentioned that I was trying to find a car stereo system installer to route the power wiring from the battery to the cab.  One of the guys spoke up and said that he installed systems in cars for 15 years and showed me exactly where to run the wire.

It seems that most if not all foreign and some American cars have an automatic transmission, but when they form the body parts they stamp out the space for the clutch pedal to go through the firewall since it doesn’t cost any more to have the hole there.  He looked under the dash, sure enough the space was there and very easy to get to, he also showed me where it will come out in the engine compartment.   All I have to do is drill a hole, put a rubber grommet into the hole and run the two wires.

Hope that this tip helps you and saves you a few dollars as well.

Jim

On a linked repeater system, “Activity” refers to the activity of that particular repeater being transmitted on.

PLs in parentheses mean the repeater sometimes requires the given PL. If you want to key up a repeater on this database with a PL in parentheses, key up the repeater with carrier access first; if that fails, use the given PL.

At the bottom of the post you will see when this repeater database was last updated and the last addition or change of a repeater.  This “change” refers to a frequency, PL, or callsign change as well as if a repeater goes down or back up.

Last updated:
05/14/2012

Last updates:
KD8LWR simplex repeater has 100 Hz PL

KC8LMI simplex repeater is down

For the last three years, I’ve been taking my Elecraft KX-1 and operating from up there. I have a really idyllic operating location. I operate from the screened-in porch of one of the cottages. From my operating position, I have a great view of the lake.

This year was the best in terms of amateur radio, anyway. The first year, I used the 28-ft. random wire vertical antenna described in the Elecraft manual. It loaded up just fine, but I had trouble making contacts with it.

Last year, I used the portable dipole I made with 30-ga. wire and twisted pair feedline. This antenna definitely works better than the 28-ft. vertical, but I still had trouble making solid contacts.

This year, I used the same antenna, and had much better success. For example, where last year, my contacts were mostly short ones with mediocre signal reports, this year’s contacts were much longer with generally good to very good signal reports. For example, the very first contact I made was with W3ANX. He gave me a 579 signal report, and we talked for 40 minutes. One of my other contacts lasted for 30 minutes.

I attribute this mostly to band conditions. When band conditions are poor, low-power signals tend to drift in and out of the noise, making copy rough. When band conditions are good, low-power signals stay above the noise and are easier to copy. When your signal is easier to copy, station you’re in contact with stay with you longer, and longer contacts, in my opinion, are more enjoyable, than short ones.

Another thing I noticed is that I heard stations that I never hear from home. Part of it is the difference in location, but it’s probably also due to the difference in antenna pattern. What I take away from this is that it’s probably a good idea to have more than one antenna per band, if you can swing it. Having two or more antennas with different antenna patters will allow you to talk to more people than if have just one antenna.

I also learned that my iPod earbuds have more output than the earbuds I had been using. While lately I’ve been using an amplified speaker on the output of my KX-1, when I pulled it out of my toolbox, I found that I’d forgotten to turn it off last time and the battery was dead. Not having a ready source of 9-V batteries, I plugged in the earbuds. Then, just for kicks, I decided to try my iPod earbuds. They were noticeably louder, so I used them exclusively.

All in all, it was a great vacation. The scenery was beautiful, weather was mostly nice, the food was great (we take turns preparing dinner), and the company fantastic. Add in the good band conditions, and you have an almost ideal vacation.

• Spacious – 28 feet long x 8 feet wide x 7 feet high inside.
• 5 comfortable operating positions, each one has 2 wired Ethernet connections, 4 antenna ports wired
  to a coax patch panel, dedicated Astron 50 or 70 Amp power supply, Anderson Powerpole DC connections, a small fluorescent light, and AC outlets.
• 3 tier radio bench for power supplies, computers, radios, & accessories.
• 42 foot heavy duty locking pneumatic tower with redundant air compressors (120 VAC & 12 VDC). The tower guy wires use high quality Aeroquip tension adjusters for rapid deployment, and is topped off with a HAM-IV rotor and Yagi’s for 6M, 2M, 432 SSB/ATV & a tri-band 144/220/440 vertical. Tower also sports a canvas cover to keep the elements off the hardware when not in use.
• Antennas for all bands from 160 Meters to 450 MHz, including a fully automated satellite array.

In addition, it has a kitchen, toilet, shower, and sleeping accomodations. What a great project! It’s gotta be costing a ton of money, though.

In 1955, The Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club, an association of mobile amateur radio operators, provided emergency communications during the…during the devastating flood of August, 1955 along the Delaware River and in the Pocono Mountain s following Hurricane Diane, the sixth costliest U.S. hurricane of the 20th century…fifty years before Hurricane Katrina. In 1959, the club produced this short film to explain amateur radio, and especially mobile communications as practiced by the club.

(The main film begins after a three minute interview with Jim Spencer, W3BBB, produced by a local cable channel many years later)

Dig the guy’s “walkie-talkie” in the scene where they’re providing communications for the marathon……Dan

View the video

Over and above that, be careful out there! I haven’t heard of any incidents where an amateur radio operator caused an accident or could not avoid one because he or she was distracted by his or her mobile operation, but the danger is real……..Dan

From the February 16, 2007 ARRL News:

Bills aimed at thwarting “driving while cellular” and “driving while distracted” behavior have been introduced in several states, and most are worded broadly enough to potentially proscribe some Amateur Radio mobile operation. ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND , so far has catalogued 11 active pieces of legislation. Bills introduced in Montana and New Mexico have been sidelined for now, but related measures — more than one in some states — remain alive in Georgia, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming. Henderson reports that ARRL Field Organization volunteers and members called the League’s attention to the various pieces of pending legislation, none of which specifically exempt Amateur Radio mobile operation.

“In most cases we try to work to have language exempting Amateur Radio inserted into the bill, rather than narrowing by definition the behavior or activity the bill seeks to address,” Henderson explains. “It is a far easier approach and removes ambiguity down the road.”

Henderson says that, if requested, the League will advise radio amateurs preparing to testify about a bill before a state legislative committee. “We offer some suggestions regarding what to cover and how to approach their testimony,” he said. “We also will speak with legislators or their aides to try and clarify questions or help them craft language that help accomplish our goal of specifically exempting Amateur Radio operation from these measures.” Most of the measures include exceptions for emergency communication and law enforcement agencies.

[[Details about individual bills deleted.]]

Henderson advises ARRL members to contact their Section Manager to learn about any initiatives under way to address the ham radio implications of a particular state bill.

• Ham-Mac. Ham-Mac is a mailing list for hams who are using Macs in ham applications.Most ham radio software runs on a PC, but there are hams—myself included—who have converted to the Mac. The computer in my shack is still a PC, but it’s beginning to show its age—it’s starting to lock up randomly—and may have to be replaced soon. I may just buy a Mac laptop to replace it.
• Mobile Amateur Radio. This mailing list provides information on mobile amateur radio operations, including setup, troubleshooting, and many other aspects of operating from a car, a boat, a plane, a bicycle, or even on foot.

Instead, I set up the KX-1 as usual. For an antenna, I use the antenna described in the antenna tuner manual, namely a 28-ft driven element and a 16-ft. counterpoise. I actually use three counterpoises–that seems to work much better than just a single one.

In my toolbox, I have a tennis ball and a ball of nylon twine. I poke the twine through the tennis ball, and then throw the ball over a convenient tree branch. The last time I set up out in a park, I snagged the perfect branch on the very first throw. Last night, however, I wasn’t so lucky.

The problem seemed to be that there was just too much friction between the tree bark and the twine. I’d get the ball over the branch easily enough, but the ball was too light to come down far enough to grab it and attach the antenna wire.

All this was quite amusing to the kids who’d come over to watch me. At first they asked what I was doing, and when I explained, they seemed really interested. After a couple of tries, I said to them, “The ball is going over the right tree branch, but it’s not heavy enough to come down the other side.”

I poked around in my toolbox, trying to find something that might make the ball a little heavier, but nothing seemed very easy to use. When I mentioned this to the kids, one of them piped up, “Why don’t you put some rocks in it?” What a perfect solution! They scouted around for some small rocks, which we poked through the hole in the tennis ball, and voila, it was heavy enough now to not only go over the branch, but pull the twine down the other side. I thanked my assistants, who seemed very pleased with themselves.

After untangling the coil of antenna wire and pulling it up into the tree, I got the KX-1 all hooked up and let them listen to some Morse Code. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring along my battery-powered speaker, so we couldn’t all listen to it at the same time. Next time, I’ll remember, though.

I made three quick contacts. The first with K1NUN, yet another card to my collection of QSLs from stations whose callsigns spell words. Next, was KE4RUN, another guy whose call spells a word, but I already have his QSL. Then finally Bob KB3ENU. Although Bob was also QRP, he was peaking at S7 here in Michigan, and we had a fine QSO.

Overall, it was another fine outing for the AMPTeam.

Following the lead of Kalamazoo’s LOSTeam, our club has formed its own group to pursue “adventures in communications.” We call ourselves the ARROW Mobile and Portable Team (AMPTeam).

We had our first outing last Monday, April 24. The weather was beautiful, and eleven club members, plus my XYL, came out to enjoy the evening. In the photo below, you can see five of us enjoying the food. From left to right are yours truly (KB6NU), Rich KD6HWF, Tara, Karen KD8AOK, Pat N8PJR, and Reggie KD8AOM (who got a little cut off). Mark KD8AOM, took the photo.

At one point, we had five separate stations operating, including three HF stations and two VHF stations. I set up my KX-1 and made two contacts on 40m. My first QSO was with a guy in Minnesota, who was also running QRP. The second was with a guy in NJ, who gave me a 599 signal report!

We also ran the club Monday Night Net from the park. In the photo above, you see me running the net with a borrowed handie-talkie.

Just like Field Day, these kinds of events are good for public relations. We set up in a public park, very near a busy walkway, and got many people to stop by and ask what we were doing. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring our club banner and brochures this time. Even so, we did manage to talk to quite a few people.

This is something every club should try. It does serve a useful purpose in terms of emergency communications readiness, but mostly, though, it was just a lot of fun. The LOSTeam does something like this every week. This first year, we’re shooting for once a month.

The KX1 is a great portable rig but it is also a great pedestrian mobile rig. You can go to new heights, evade local power line noises and find hot spots near flag poles and in baseball diamonds.

Step by step (peripatetically speaking), here is how to do it…

1. Get your KX1 on the air from your base and learn how to use all the controls. You are going to have to increase the LED display brightness as soon as you get out in the sun. (Hit MENU, rotate Dial to ‘Led’, Push MENU for 1 second, Push RIT to raise LED brightness to 6). It is a good idea to cary a small instruction cheat sheet with you. If you see P=0 on your display you won’t be having many QSO’s.
2. Get a banana jack to BNC converter for the KX1 antenna connector.
3. Get a two-ft. paint stirring stick (free from Home Depot).
4. Attach an 8 foot whip (or longer) to the stick with duct tape.
5. Attach a 3 foot piece of insulated wire from the base of the whip to the KX1 hot banana jack (do not use ANY coax for this run).
6. Attach a 13 foot piece of insulated wire to the black terminal of the banana jack (this is your counterpoise or drag wire).
7. Put the paint stir stick in your back pocket (low ‘Z’ part of your body). Attach the whip to the upper part of your body by using a short strap around your neck and arm to hold the upper part of the whip.(You could use one of your old shoulder holsters). I am in cold country so i almost always just use my North Face down vest. The whip goes through the arm hole in the vest and rests in my rear pocket.
8. Turn the KX1 on, install ear buds, walk 15 feet into a clear space (letting the drag wire layout behind you). Set the KX1 for 14060+/- (or your favorite tune up frequency). Push the TUNE buttons. You should get 3W and <1.5 SWR. Start walking. Call CQ xxx/pm. I have “CQ CQ de w0rw/pm” in memory so i don’t have to do anything but hit ‘PLY 1′.
9. You can lessen your antenna directivity loss by walking away from the station you are communicating with. The single drag wire makes the whip directional. You can get a 3 dB boost from your local flag pole or street light by using it as a reflector.
10. Operation on 30 and 40 meters will be greatly aided by adding a top hat to the whip. i use 4 of those little underground utilities flag markers (also available at Home D.) You can see my top hat in the ‘photos’ section of the HFPack2 Yahoo Group in the folder ‘w0rw’. Watch out for those top hat eating trees.
11. I hold the KX1 in my left hand with my left thumb near the paddle and send with my right hand. i added an additional rubber foot under the “L” in Elecraft for a finger grip.
12. I carry an external battery pack in my pocket for long hikes.
13. I have a small log that attaches to my cuff, like an NFL Quarterback.
14. Make sure the 2 bottom case screws are tight and keep the paddle thumb screw tight. If they get loose, add lock washers. You cannot find these screws if you drop them in six inches of snow.

Hope to see you on the trail.

You can see a picture of my KX1/pm on the Adventure Radio Society web site at http://www.arsqrp.com/ars/pages/back_issues/2005_text/1205_text/W0RW.html or read about my KX1 pedestrian mobile contact with Latvia at http://www.eham.net/articles/9262.

Jim, W0EB, replied:

You forgot to mention to watch out for following pedestrians. They tend to step on the drag wire and this gets interesting when it comes up short. Tends to yank the KX1 out of your hand, or in my case, bust the BNC to binding post adapter off. Also taught me to buy a Pomona BNC to BP adapter. They are much more rugged than the cheap ones.

Finally, W0RW sent me this list of recently published pedestrian mobile articles he’s written:

• Adventure Radio Society magazine:
  • High Altitude Pedestrian Mobile
  • Pedestrian Mobile at Bust, CO
  • KX1 Hike at Evergreen, Colorado
  • 2004 FYBO (Freeze Your Boots Off) Contest
  • American Eagles Overlook Hike
  • Pedestrian Mobile: Reaching For a High on Pike’s Peak
• eHam.Com
  • KX1 Pedestrian Mobile vs Bear
  • 100 Countries on a 10 Foot Whip
  • Rare Pedestrian Mobile contact with UK
  • Check DX Propagation with Beacons
• K9YA Telegraph: Mobile Morse Operations, Oct. 2005. You can get this issue of the K9YA Telegraph as a pdf download by sending an email to telegraph@k9ya.org and requesting the Oct. 2005 issue.
• Flying Pigs Bacon Bits Quarterly, First Quarter 2006: An 80 Meter Walk in the Park