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Radio Club of America

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You may have heard that I recently had the honor of being recognized as a Fellow of the Radio Club of America.

Attending the awards banquet was really a fantastic experience. It was also a humbling experience – seeing all the incredible people that received awards that night along with gaining additional perspective on the superb achievements of all the club members over the long history of that organization.

RCA Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Ray and Carole at RCA 2015The Radio Club of America, founded in 1909, is the world’s oldest radio communication club. It promotes cooperation among those interested in the advancement and scientific study of radio communication. It works hard to both honor the past and create the future. Read More...

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Emergency Communications – Amateur Radio’s Role

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We typically think about cell phone service closing down either because of downed towers or massive overload during a disaster or an emergency. Broadcast stations as well as police and emergency services can also shutdown for similar reasons.

POWER OF COMMUNICATION OPTIONS

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ID-5100A

Those services are typically tied to a single approach for communication, however, amateur radio isn’t limited. Sure, on VHF/UHF a repeater might go down but that just means we need to go simplex. Or, amateur operators can readily set up a portable repeater system to get things going once more. Read More...

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N9JA on Amateur Radio Contesting

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CQ Contest CQ Contest…. for some, these are poetic words.  I can say I am one!

For me, contesting allows me to pit myself against the powers of the sun and propagation gods/goddesses.  To eek out that one weak QSO while RF bombards the airwaves is very exciting  and rewarding, especially when working a contest from the WEST COAST!

While I have had the pleasure of working a contest from the K3LR Multi-Multi station, being part of an incredible team, I enjoy the solo effort as N9JA as well as running the N7IH club station during the CQ WW Phone contest. Read More...

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8N23WSJ On the Air from the World Jamboree in Japan

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Despite two typhoons in the past few weeks, the World Scout Jamboree is up and running in Kirara-hama, Yamaguchi, Japan. More than 30,000 Scouts and leaders from 161 countries around the world are engaging in two weeks of activities and adventure, from July 28 to August 8.

8N23WSJ

11011738_10153408120368898_4283413518783042832_nAlong with all the Scouting activities, including a JOTA-JOTI Plaza (Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet) in the Science Program Area, the amateur radio station 8N23WSJ is on the air!

The 8 is the designation for a special event call sign and the N stands for Nippon, which means Japan. Since this is the 23rd World Scout Jamboree, the last letters in the call sign are 23WSJ.  Have fun with the Eight November Twenty Three World Scouting Jamboree special event station! Read More...

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N7IH Icom America Club Station – Revealed

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As a result of our recent move to Kirkland, WA, we’ve been able to set up our club station, N7IH, with new transceivers, a new tower and new antennas. It’s been a blast to specify what’s needed and then make it happen.

In an aside, I’m afraid that it is often true that the “cobbler’s children have no shoes” meaning that the cobbler can’t find the time to make his children’s shoes. That can happen to any organization, like Icom, that is so focused on working with customers and delivering fantastic products that it doesn’t take the time to enjoy its own products. In this case, amateur radio equipment. Read More...

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W3LIF Field Day @ K3LR

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I hope that many of you, if not all, got on the air for Field Day this year. It is always a highlight of my year. In general, I love contesting and field day is especially challenging as I usually guest operate from various field day locations all over the US.  Over the years I have experienced Field Day with callsigns like N1FD, W4IY, W3AO, N7OS, KC7KEY, W0BM, W5NEM, and even did Locomotive mobile as N5R.  One thing that all these callsigns have in common was the passion for this incredible hobby, and not afraid to flaunt our skills in front of non-hams!  This year, I was invited to participate with the Mercer County Amateur Radio Club, W3LIF. Read More...

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D-STAR – It’s not just for the kids

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dstar-poweredThere are currently over 750 D-STAR repeaters in the US. During the 2014 D-STAR QSO Party (held in September each year) over 1,000 hams were on the air from 36 countries. The ten winners received an ID-51 50th Anniversary Edition HT.

This gives you a flavor for the broad reach of D-STAR here in the US and around the world. What I like about it is being able to talk with anyone throughout the world without being at the mercy of the latest sunspot count.

For example, when I was on a DX-pedition to Mozambique a few years ago I was also able to use D-STAR to talk with many Scouts who were on that weekend for Jamboree on the Air. We had reliable clear communication without the pileups and QSB/QRM etc. And, what a blast to talk with Scouts about amateur radio, their current campout, local weather, etc. Read More...

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How I Spent My Hamvention®

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dayton-icon-largeAs I noted in my last post, I had back-to-back events planned for the Big Show at the Dayton Hamvention®. I’m delighted to say that every single activity came out just great.

LIVE STREAM OR IN PERSON

I sure hope you had a chance to see it in person or via the Live Stream video. One of my many favorites was Tommy and George and their AmateurLogic.tv episode direct from our booth. You can see their “studio” in the photo gallery.

Another favorite was time spent at Carole Perry’s Youth Forum. You can also see me with Carole in a nearby photo. Now, the reason I was standing so close to Carole was because she was wearing the Live Stream microphone. Honest! Read More...

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Dayton Hamvention® – Welcome to the Big Show!

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In amateur radio it doesn’t get any bigger, or any busier, than the Dayton Hamvention®. I like to call it The Big Show – it easily compares with a three-ring circus. For me, however, it’s far more than three rings!

HAMVENTION®

"The Big Show" children's circus book

Photo by “Playingwithbrushes” via flickr

The Hamvention® started in 1952 as the Southwest Ohio Ham-vention. There were seven exhibitors and 200 flea market spaces. Over 600 visitors turned up that first year. In 2014 the official attendance was nearly 25,000 with over 2,000 flea market spaces and hundreds of exhibitors. Operated by the Dayton Amateur Radio Association, it truly is the premier gathering in amateur radio. You can find anything to do with amateur radio under the big top of the Dayton Hamvention® Read More...

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50th Anniversary Limited Edition Radios

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7850

For 50 years, Icom has brought innovative technology to the radio industry. We mark the anniversary by releasing two new models with limited, special edition features. The IC-7850 50th Anniversary edition transceiver packs every ounce of high tech components Icom has developed. It includes an optimized roofing filter that has been engineered to greatly improve signal performance, an improved local oscillator which is the benchmark for improved phase noise, and the unit incorporates a dedicated DSP for the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) spectrum scope that enables the operator to sweep faster than even the IC-7800 model. There’s a very limited 150 units being released for the IC-7850 so act quickly and have a part of Icom history. Read More...