Date change in 2007
Source: http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b.html
On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday of March, and end the first Sunday of November. Note that the Secretary shall report to Congress on the impact of this change. Congress retains the right to revert the Daylight Saving Time back to the 2005 time schedules once the Department study is complete.
| Year
|
DST Begins at 2 a.m.
|
DST Ends at 2 a.m.
|
| 2005
|
April 3
|
October 30
|
| 2006
|
April 2
|
October 29
|
| 2007
|
March 11
|
November 4
|
Howdy all...
Welcome to my little corner of the world. Where no roll of electrical tape is safe!
"Look Ma, only one roll of tape!"
(Come on... you've been here too!)~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On-Goings & Points of Interest!
HT Power Adaptor Project:
Updated Jan. 5, 2004
~ ~ ~
Recommended Reading - Amateur ("Ham") Radio
Be Advised: Not all ham radio books are proof read very well. My advice is to find an author or two you trust and find other authors by their recommendation. At some point you will yourself understand the underlying principals and be able to separate the wheat from the, well, trash. Until then be cautious, you do not want to get started learning wrong information.
- "Aerials I" (also II and III)
By Kurt N. Sterba
This is where I would start. Kurt is fun to read and he passes along a lot of wisdom he has acquired over the decades. Read these three books in any order.
World Radio
- "FCC Part 97 Amateur Radio Regulations"
This is the FCC regulations all amateurs are required to know.
FCC Part 97 Reg's ARRL Web Site
FCC Part 97 Reg's GPO Web Site
FCC Web Site PDF Version
FCC Form 605 FCC Web Site
-
"The ARRL Handbook"
Published annually, but you only need one copy.
ARRL
-
"The ARRL Antenna Book"
Published annually, but you only need one copy.
ARRL
-
"Heil Ham Radio Handbook"
By Bob Heil, k9eid
A good starting point. Bob discuses a lot of hands-on topics, as well as some basic electronics theory. If you go to his web site you'll find some of the best microphones made on this planet. If you get a chance to attend one of his lectures, please do, I think you will be well pleased.
Heil Sound
-
"Reflections II"
By M. Walter Maxwell, w2du
ISBN 0-9705206-0-3
This is a great book. You will need a copy if you venture far down the Amateur Radio path. This book discusses matching you antenna system and thoroughly explains SWR. Maxwell explains "low SWR for the right reasons" as well as "low SWR for the wrong resons," and you need to know the difference.
World Radio
-
"Practical Antenna Handbook" (mine is the 4th edition, with CD-ROM)
By Joseph J. Carr
ISBN 0-07-137435-3
McGraw-Hill, McGraw-Hill
Another "must have" book! This provides easy to understand explinations of some of the fundamentals of radio wave propagation, explains many types of antennas and how to use them and perfect their performance, and will bring you up to speed on transmission lines and tuners. Many more areas are covered than I could hope to cheer. It is a keeper.
Now for the down side... While this is the 4th edition, there are still numerous errors in the diagrams. Most of these are made clear once you've read the text so it is not too terrible, however it is a disappointment to find such errors in a 4th edition. There is no errata sheet either.
I don't know any specific ham radio dealer that carries this book. I found it via a GOOGLE SEARCH using the title and the author's name. You also have the ISBN with which to search. You might try a local book store too, they may be able to order it for you.
-
"Secrets of RF Circuit Design"
By Joseph J. Carr
ISBN 0-07-137-067-6
McGraw-Hill, McGraw-Hill
This is a great book that I fully expect to make use of for many, many years! I had expected simply a book listing page after page of schematics and the like. No! These certainly are included, but more importantly the author explains discrete components, interaction of components, theory of operation for test gear, meters, all kinds of things. Now that I've seen this book, I can't imagine being without it! If you like to build things, or enjoy learning why your equipment works, get this book!
There are many errors in the diagrams. However, once you've read the text most become obvious even to me (it is fair to say I'm currently "weak" in electronic circuits). No errata sheet.
I don't know any specific ham radio dealer that carries this book. I found it via a GOOGLE SEARCH using the title and the author's name. You also have the ISBN with which to search. You might try a local book store too, they may be able to order it for you.
-
"HF Antennas For All Locations"
By Les Moxon, g6xn
ISBN 1-872309-15-1
As the title suggest, if you delve into HF antennas, this is a good book to digest.
Radio Society of Great Britain (England's counterpart to the USA's ARRL)
-
"Everything You Forgot To Ask About HF Mobileering"
By DK "Don" Johnson, w6aaq
Very good if you are interested in playing with HF from your car or RV.
World Radio
-
"40+5 Years of HF Mobileering"
By DK "Don" Johnson, w6aaq
Extensive screw-driver antenna plans. Very good mobile HF book.
World Radio
-
"Near Vertical Incidence Skywave Communication"
By Fiedler and Farmer
This is bouncing HF radio signals straight up and back down for thorough regional coverage. If you are interested in emergency communications or state wide nets you should find this an interesting topic.
World Radio
-
"Antenna & Transmatch Evaluation Field Manual,
Official Guide for the KØS Strange Antenna Challenge"
by Erik E. Weaver, n0ew
K0S Field Manual (5.4 MB PDF Format - Free Download - 1st Edition)
Errata sheet for the 1st Edition of the "K0S Field Manual."
- Available to anyone that wishes to brush up on the fundamentals of antennas and antenna tuners. Includes a section which provides a number of blank evaluation charts as well as a troubleshooting section to assist with evaluating your own antenna systems, strange or normal. Describes a few "strange antennas" used in past years. A good "strange antenna" primer.
- As one pleased reader states:
- "Your Field Service Manual is the best guide I've seen for rookies to date. I already own the ARRL Antenna Book, all the Antenna Compendiums that are still in print, and have probably printed out 20% of L.B. Cebik's website. Your manual taught me more in a couple of evenings. Now I'm ready to dig back into the tricky stuff. Again, Thanks!" 73 de John KG4RQO
Please report any errors or omissions.
Over 3,000 of these "K0S Field Manuals" have been downloaded!
Well, I'm biased. I put this manual together for folks that either want to get a head's up for k0s contests, playing with strange antennas, or simply wanted to read an introduction to antennas and tuners: "recommended" -- of course! ;^D
I welcome feedback. If you feel there are errors or omissions, a reference to the correct information would be very helpful (even if it is something obvious like a typo, as happened with a Power Point Presentation in which I mistated the speed of light).
~ ~ ~
Visit the Southwest Missouri Amateur Radio Club's Web Site
Strange Antennas Reaching Other Continents!
Here's a goofy one, but lotsa fun! Try tuning up a metal desk, or dog pen, and
see if you can talk to Alaska or Australia... fun stuff!
Go Bags...
Getting Started in Ham Radio...
- It doesn't have to be expensive.
- Morse code ("CW") is not required for the first license, and it is likely the FCC will drop the CW requirement in the near future. So don't let this stop you!
Starting in ham radio is easy!
Passing a 35 question examine is the only requirement to get your first FCC license ("ticket").
You do not need a big tower to operate.
You do not need outdoor antennas to operate.
There are a large number of special interest groups ("SIGs") within the ham community, you're sure to find one or more you really enjoy!
Antenna Information & Theory...
- Cebik, on Moxon Rectangles
Cebik, w4rnl, Moxon Rectangles
- Cebik, on the 44 ft. Dipole vs. the 66 ft. Dipole
Cebik, w4rnl, 44 foot Dipole
- Another version of the 44 ft. Dipole, using fishing poles
www.n4ekv.com
- Butternut Vertical Antenna Info (PDF)
- 55' Vertical Antenna For 40/80/160 Meters by K5OE
- www.ac6v.com/antdealer.htm
Here is another person's antenna & tower links page -- lotsa links!
- AntenneX
On-Line magazine dedicated to antenna theory
- ac6v Antenna Projects & Links
- Baluns...
- Screwdriver Antennas
- Satellites
- ww.arrowantennas.com This is an interesting company. Their products seem to be very high quality and they have been nice folks to visit with about their site's content (which includes useful information on 2M j-poles and other ham radio subjects). They sell antennas and related equipment but also take a look at their site for a good head start on some of your home brew projects.
- 2M/70cm Yagi For LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite work
- 10-watt Duplexer Used to separate the 2M and 70cm signals between the antenna and HT.
- J-Pole This is an interesting design, worth looking at if your thinking about j-poles (which are very useful).
- Duplexer This is the design for the duplexer used in Arrow 2M/70cm beams
- www.amsat.org This is a clearinghouse of satellite related information.
- AmSat Weekly Update Good informatin! Provides the vitals of many amateur radio satellites with a click of the mouse.
- Cheap Yagi - UHF/VHF The antennas described in this article were built as the result of several discussions between Kent and a Cuban radio operator. Most of the parts required to build high-end antennas are not available in Cuba. Kent accepted this as a challenge to design a really good antenna that could be built with little more than ground wire, coax and a wooden boom.
- g6lvb - Homebrew Arrow Antenna
- SO-50 Accessing SO-50
- My HamSat Page Miscellaneous links and information. See also my "diplexer" page (below).
- My Diplexer Page and Links A "diplexer" separates frequencies in different bands, whereas a duplexer separates frequencies inside the same band (more difficult, or at least requires greater precision).
- My First Quagi Antenna 2-Meter and 70-cm design, 8 and 15 elements
- AO-7 Log and Resource Site This is a nice site that helps explain how we may acquire A-7.
-
- AmSat.org's BETA Site MUCH better than their main web stie. For example, in the listing for SO-27 it clearly states this is (was after late July 2004) down because the batteries were too weak following its time in eclipse. It would have been very nice to have known this before I attempted to acquire it several times!
-
-
-
-
-
- Arrow J-Pole This is an interesting design, worth looking at if your thinking about j-poles (which are very useful).
- n0ew J-Pole
- SMARC Club Presentation This will take you to a directory (folder) on this web page. Inside are the various reference material I used in preparing for that lecture / project. Step-by-step instructions for constructing a 2M j-pole are included along with a variety of reference material and measurements of the various antennas I built in preparation for the class. Measured points include such things as the affect of adding a coax choke (recommended) and the affect upon SWR of measuring inside the shack or 15 feet up in the air. I found it an interesting process and certainly recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the j-pole while building it.
- J-Pole This is an interesting design, worth looking at if your thinking about j-poles. These are very useful antennas. I have a copper pipe version at my house and I always carry a roll-up version in my various go-bags.
-
-
Telescopic Masts for Portable Operations...
I am still searching for the ideal support pole / mast for portable operations. I've not yet found it, so I'd really like to hear from anyone that has a good solution.
What I am seeking is similar to a fishing pole, because it is a lightweight fiberglass, telescopic pole. However, it differs in that the top-most section is close to 1/2 inch diameter and when fully extended the top reaches 40 feet. I've not yet found this.
- 30 to 40 foot Portable Masts ($250 each for 40 feet - ouch!) This is the closest item I've found to what I've had in mind. Ideally the cost will be lower and the short length will fit in your car trunk (these are about 8 foot long when collapsed for storage). But they are a step in the right direction!
- DK9SK, 33-Foot Fiberglass Pole...
- www.tmastco.com "The Mast Company"
- www.jackite.com
- Military Masts A friend and I tried to reach 66 foot height with these: images and description on this link.
- The Mast Company 32-feet for $135. Still pricey, but their ends do appear to be sturdy, as is needed for antenna masting. If you are considering a purchase, look at their masts.
Coax Information
Station Equipment & Parts...
A
- AES Ham
- Affordable-Solar
Article discussing the three primary types of solar panels.
- Amidon Torroid cores, and other ferromagnetic products for ham radio
- Associated Radio This is our "local dealer" -- located in Kansas City. Dan, the owner, is willing to discuss the finer details of exactly which piece of equipment best fits your needs, and is a good guy to deal with.
- Astro Flight This is a model company but they have some parts that may be if interest to hams.
B
- Battery Tech Central A number of folks have been using their HT batteries and finding them less expensive than the dealer-price, the same quality, and often larger mA capacity.
- BayCom Packet radio, etc.
- Bird Wattmeter's...
- Buddipole...
C
- Cable Experts - Site Map (Jake's Place)
- CS-sales I've not ordered from them yet.
- Cushcraft Antennas
D
- Davis RF
- DigiKey Large selection of electronic parts.
- D & L Antenna Another good guy we've seen at local hamfests!
E
- Elecraft Home of the K2. If you are up to building your own transceiver this gets great reviews!
- Express PCB This is neat software for designing circuit boards. They seem to have good prices too.
F
- Fair Radio
- FAR Circuits
They have printed circuit boards for many projects found in the ARRL Handbook, QST and other magazines.
G
- Giga Parts
I've been told purchases over $200 have free shipping.
H
- Ham Radio Outlet - "HRO"
Free shipping, with $100+ orders
I
- Icom
Icom - Currently making great amateur radios, and pretty good customer support! (2003)
J
K
- K0S Field Manual (PDF format - free download)
Well, I'm biased. I put this manual together for folks that either want to get a head's up for k0s contests, playing with strange antennas, or simply wanted to read an introduction to antennas and tuners: "recommended" of course! ;^D
Errata sheet for the 1st Edition of the "K0S Field Manual."
- "Your Field Service Manual is the best guide I've seen for rookies to date. I already own the ARRL Antenna Book, all the Antenna Compendiums that are still in print, and have probably printed out 20% of L.B. Cebik's website. Your manual taught me more in a couple of evenings. Now I'm ready to dig back into the tricky stuff. Again, Thanks!" 73 de John KG4RQO
- Kenwood
Kenwood has great customer service. I asked for details on a 520, which they had no hope of selling me anything for, and they were still very helpful. They also happen to make pretty good rigs!
L
M
- McMaster-Carr
Great on-line hardware store! They have just about everything, short of individual electronic components. Bars of teflon, nylon, gears, tools, etc.
- MFJ Enterprises
A.K.A. Mighty Fine Junk. They always are priced higher if you buy directly from them. Also note they have bought out other companies and they all now are of the same (low to average) quality: Vectronics for sure, and I think Ameritron. Anyway, be selective because some of thier stuff is purely junk, and a waste of money, but other items are OK for the money. For example, their "Versa Tuner" series is a fair deal considering the cost, and they have about the only antenna analyzer an amateur is likely to purchase ($300 vs. $30,000).
- Mouser
Electronic parts. Huge inventory, fast shipping!
- MSC Ddirect/ (They are idiots, so be careful!)
N
- nm3e - Bird meters & elements New & used. LOTS of Bird related equipment.
O
- Oak Hills Research
They sell a number of kits - largely for QRP
- Ocean State Electronics
P
- Palomar-Engineers
Good place for ferrite beads.
- Palstar Inc
Q
R
- Radio Shack (nearly useless IMNSHO)
- RF Parts
S
- Surplus Sales
- http://www.thescrewdriver.com/ Screwdriver Antenna Designed & Built by ke4vsk (I have this and like it)
T
- www.TAPR.org
These guys are in the forefront of developing digital communications for ham radio!
- Timewave
Digital communications
- www.tentec.com
They have some interesting kits, in addition to radios. They will sell just about every individual part used to make their equipment. They have good enclosures too.
- http://www.tubesandmore.com/
Tubes, and More Stuff
- http://www.thescrewdriver.com/ Screwdriver Antenna Designed & Built by ke4vsk (I have this and like it)
U
V
W
- www.wavenode.com Remote sensors using your personal computer (PC) for the display of SWR, RF Power, DC Current, etc.
- wb0w
Good folks, who've seen at lotsa area hamfests!
- West Mountain Radio.com
Home of RIGblaster & RIGrunner
- Wire Man
X
Y
- YEASU
Some people like them, and they most likely do make some good products, HOWEVER, this will never (in my mind) make up for their bald-faced lies regarding trouble with their 8000-series rigs. A short story... A guy walks up to the Yaesu table at the Dayton Hamfest and begins speaking with one of the reps about the recurring problems plaguing his radio (he never mentioned he had spoken with literally dozens of others experiencing the same problems, all of whom received the same reply from Yaesu: "Really? Hmmm, never heard of that happening before...."). During this little conversation, and expected answers ("Hmmm, never heard of that before...."), a second rep comes up and joins in the conversation. He listens briefly and says something along the lines of "Oh ya, we hear a lot of that. There was a problem in the manufacturing so what you will need to do is...."
I forget the details, I think maybe the soldered connections came apart if in heat and vibration for any length of time (it was a mobile rig!), but the point is they WERE VERY AWARE of the problems, had been REPEATEDLY CONTACTED regarding these problems by DOZENS (if not hundreds - how can we know?) of people, and had the audacity to fain knowledge of the issue.
Some people have told me that all manufacturers do this with one product or another over the course of time. The liabilty and recall costs are simply too great to adopt any other posture.
Z
-
-
-
Modifications to Equipment ("Mods") & Peripherals
- 706 Tune Device from g3vgr
-
- The Universal QSYer KeyPad
For two years the Millenium QSYer has allowed hundreds of ICOM radio owners the ability to have convenient direct frequency entry and automatic mode switching for their radios. The Universal QSYer extends these capabilities to owners of the Yaesu FT-817, FT-897, FT857, and FT-100, while preserving the ability to control ICOM radios as well. This keypad is indispensable to those operators who own very small radios (such as the IC-706 series, the FT-100, and the FT-817) that don't have their own panel keypads and those operators who are visually impaired. Frankly, if you are operating one of these radios in a mobile or portable environment without one of these keypads, you are working way too hard.
- FAR Circuits
They have printed circuit boards for many projects found in the ARRL Handbook, QST and other magazines.
Field Day Topics...
Soldering Tools & Supplies....
Our thanks to Mike k0rfi for many of these links!
- SOLDERING TOOLS
- BASIC SOLDERING SKILLS
- SOLDERING PRODUCTS AND OTHER INTERESTS
- CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY
- Amphenol's PL-259 Assembly PDF
There are other interesting links on their page, and many of their products have a link to a PDF much like this one. Good info!
Power Supplies, Inverters, Etc....
Protective Cases for Your Equipment...
Address Changes / Notifying the FCC...
Organizations and Major Web Sites...
Digital Modes...
Solar Activity
Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS)...
Contest Information...
Government Topics...
- United States Senate and House Bill Lookup
You need to preface the bill number with "HR" for a House Bill or "S" for a Senate Bill.
- Smaller Government, Less Taxes, Individual Rights Asserted www.LP.org
- Red/Blue Map by County for 2004 Presidential Election There is of course no count of independents. Our countries de facto one-party system remains intact thus far (meaning you can vote Liberal, or really Liberal).
Learning / Tutorials...
Contruction Projects
Sizing Circuit Components
Manuals
QST Articles of Interest
- "QST" OCT 1977 Satellite, Quagi Antenna Design
- "QST" AUG 1976 "Another Look At Reflections" by Maxwell, W2DU
-
-
Transmatch (Antenna Tuner) Information
Emergency Prepardness
- Please note, there are various catagories of need. One's needs will differ in each case. No single suggested list of goods and supplies will be 100% right for anyone else, however, spending some time thinking about such issues and drafting your own list of needed supplies will help you prepare. Those that come immediately to mind are:
- Personal Medicines (I include vitamins too.)
- Home
- Automobile
- 72-Hour Bag (or 96-Hour Bag)
- Duty-Specific Go-Bags
- Food and Water
-
-
-
-
-
Ham Radio Potporrie...
List of Links - Amateur Radio Related
Poker / Texas Hold 'em
- World Poker Tour
- Ultimate Bet
I am "TinyTroll" (please note me as the person that referred you
if you decide to join). This is a ton of fun! My dad has played poker all his life
but it is a recent discovery for me, and I've found it is very, very enjoyable.
(I'm currently on a government sponsored retraining program attempting to learn
Texas Hold'em -- we'll see how that goes, hi-hi). In any event, it is a very
interesting game with a lot of twists and finer points. As a fellow ham I think this
aspect offers quite a large appeal -- "it takes a minute to learn how to play, and a
life time to master."
- Paradise Poker This has been a very good site. If you are interested in Internet poker look at this site too. I am "TinyTroll" here as well, and would of course appreciate a reference should you decide to open an account. Have fun!
Misc. Topics...
Schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun:
A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.