Utah is getting a major storm right now. Here are some links to good advice on what to do when the snow becomes a problem.
Blizzard Survival
http://www.fcgov.com/oem/blizzard-survival.php
How to Make a Blizzard Survival Kit
http://www.ehow.com/how_2068127_make-blizzard-survival-kit.html
How to Survive a Blizzard
http://weather.about.com/od/winterweather/a/winter_survival.htm
How to Build a Snow Cave
http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Snow-Cave
Why are snow caves dangerous?
http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_Snowcaves.htm
It is recommended to have hand warmers and space blankets in the car even for short trips. Never leave home without a cell phone or ham radio or both.
To help others, monitor FRS/GMRS traffic for people calling for help.
There are some excellent tips in the web pages given above on what to do when the power goes out and/or the phones are down.
Above all else, keep warm and be sure to get food and water.
===Notes from the 12/15 and 12/22 nets===
KD7UM - BOX BUILT FROM 1/2 INCH PLYWOOD. 30 AMP PS - 2 TNC'S - MOBILES - HANDLES - FRONT & BACK OPEN FOR VENTILATION. REMOVABLE SHELVES (COTTER PINS) - 15X18X16 - BOX & SHELVES FROM ONE PIECE OF PLYWOOD.
ALL GENERATORS produce PURE sine waves from the coils. Most generators send the pure sine wave to a DC converter and then to an inverter to produce a sine wave which ranges from pure sine waves to badly modified sine/square waves.
The Honda 2000i models make very beautiful sine waves. Some generators including Honda put up to 24 volts on the 12 volt line!
Worst sine wave has flattened tops & bottoms, BUT the WORST part is the 0 volt gap between cycles. True sine waves got from cycle to cycle in one
continuous move with an almost instant crossing of the 0 line (x axis). Bad ones run along the 0 line for a ways before producing the other side of the wave. BAD, BAD NEWS, ESPECIALLY ON MOTORS. The only way to know for sure what you are getting out of your generator is to get together
with someone who has an oscilloscope.
When charging batteries with the 12 volt output of a generator, you MUST monitor the charging and disconnect the generator when the battery is charged or the battery will be destroyed.
If your generator has a 12 volt output, best bet is to get a solar regulator (that can handle 24 volts or more) and let it regulate the 12 volts and also monitor the battery charging and auto disconnect when the battery is charged.
KD7UM - 12 VOLT DC - SOME GENERATORS ARE FOR BATTERY CHARGING ONLY.
73s until next time. Havae fun shoveling snow.
N7OZH
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
MARA 10/08/2010 - APRS, Packet, W2ENY, CAT mode cables.
In SLC, the following frequencies are used for APRS (144.39) and Packet (145.05). Both modes should see high usage during any actual emergency and during most SET drills.
W2ENY has some interesting ham radio items on eBay. Just search on his call sign.
Another ham makes some amazing digital mode cables and they are less expensive than most other methods of getting into digital radio. You can find his stuff on eBay HERE. If that is not "clickable" in your browser, here is the actual address:
http://shop.ebay.com/sjgwilliam/m.html
He is in England, so there is a $9.99 shipping charge, but his stuff is well worth it. I have ordered one of his cables and will be reporting on it here by the end of the year.
-N7OZH-
W2ENY has some interesting ham radio items on eBay. Just search on his call sign.
Another ham makes some amazing digital mode cables and they are less expensive than most other methods of getting into digital radio. You can find his stuff on eBay HERE. If that is not "clickable" in your browser, here is the actual address:
http://shop.ebay.com/sjgwilliam/m.html
He is in England, so there is a $9.99 shipping charge, but his stuff is well worth it. I have ordered one of his cables and will be reporting on it here by the end of the year.
-N7OZH-
Thursday, December 02, 2010
MARA 12/01/2010 and APRS Info
Scroll down for some AMAZING info on APRS.
N7OVT Reports - FRIDAY December 3rd, 2010 - 5PM TO SAT 5PM Skywarn Recognition Day - PSK HF ECHOLINK PACKET - The NOAA weather station in Salt Lake City is located at 2200 West North Temple. VHF-449.425 (IRLP) and HF PSK on 14700
Rascal-II does do packet. The BuxCom sale is over. N7OVT bought the Rascall-II and reports that the construction is horrible and shoddy. He says it is worth the extra 20 or 30 bucks to get the Signalink unit.
The 6 PIN DIN Data connector on Icom, Kenwood, Yeasu radios is wired the same - one data cable for three brands of radios on packet/APRS/digital modes!
If you have an older radio, you may find that it looses its memory settings when powered off. There is a keep-alive battery inside and it has finally gone dead. These are usually button batteries about the size of a quarter with solder leads. Replacements are available on eBay and from other sources. You may be able to use Google to find out which keep alive battery your radio needs before you take it apart.
NOTE: Newer radios (last 5 years or so) do NOT have keep-alive batteries, they use NVRAM which does not require a keep-alive battery. [Thanks to Dave, KD7UM for this info]
There are battery eliminator devices for most handy talkies. They snap on in place of your regular battery and have a cord that plugs into your car cigarette lighter socket or other similar 12 volt source. In most cases they boost the power rating of your radio and are very handy in an emergency. These are available in many cases for radios that are 30+ years old right up through the most modern models. Check Ebay and Google for your radio model number and the word "eliminator" or "battery eliminator".
Be careful when buying after market chargers for your handy talkies. They are VERY handy and will NEVER overcharge your battery. Many HT batteries only have contacts where they connect to the radio. However, many of the after market chargers have contacts meant to mate with contact on the back, side, or bottom of the battery so that it can be charged while attached to the radio. Be sure you specify which one you need when ordering units like the Universal chargers with drop in replaceable charging cups.
NOTE: It is nice to have aftermarket chargers that can charge your HT battery OFF the radio, then you can have one battery on the radio and be using the radio while the other battery is charging.
APRS - APRS - APRS - http://www.aprs.org/ - APRS - APRS - APRS
The above web site has TONS of info on APRS. If you think APRS is only for tracking mobile radios as they drive around, you are in for a surprise. APRS is being used to announce ham radio events, weather warnings, hazardous info on roads with date, time and GPS coordinates, and lots, lots more. Check the APRS web site for even more info.
Dave, KD7UM has done lots with APRS and reports the following. You can get a used Garmin GPS5 for around $40.00 and it will connect to your APRS capable radios for APRS. Some good APRS programs are UView32 and APRS Point. If using a USB to Serial cable with a GPS, be careful, Dave only gets cables based on the FTDI chipset to work with GPS units.
Lots of USB things on USBGear.com.
Here is an interesting and very useful set up for APRS. If set up properly, your radio can "page" you when you are within simplex range of another APRS radio and you can then communicate (voice) with that station while continuing to monitor APRS data. This info (and TONS more) is from the APRS.ORG web page listed above.
The national simplex frequency for APRS is 144.39 and HF APRS is on 10.151 MHz LSB.
Anyone who has a mobile radio that can do APRS who is not using APRS is really missing out big time on some fascinating and VERY useful ham radio experiences. Of course, Packet, APRS and EchoLink will be very prominent in any actual emergency. If you plan to operate from home in an emergency you NEED to have one or more of those modes available.
That's all for now. -N7OZH-
N7OVT Reports - FRIDAY December 3rd, 2010 - 5PM TO SAT 5PM Skywarn Recognition Day - PSK HF ECHOLINK PACKET - The NOAA weather station in Salt Lake City is located at 2200 West North Temple. VHF-449.425 (IRLP) and HF PSK on 14700
Rascal-II does do packet. The BuxCom sale is over. N7OVT bought the Rascall-II and reports that the construction is horrible and shoddy. He says it is worth the extra 20 or 30 bucks to get the Signalink unit.
The 6 PIN DIN Data connector on Icom, Kenwood, Yeasu radios is wired the same - one data cable for three brands of radios on packet/APRS/digital modes!
If you have an older radio, you may find that it looses its memory settings when powered off. There is a keep-alive battery inside and it has finally gone dead. These are usually button batteries about the size of a quarter with solder leads. Replacements are available on eBay and from other sources. You may be able to use Google to find out which keep alive battery your radio needs before you take it apart.
NOTE: Newer radios (last 5 years or so) do NOT have keep-alive batteries, they use NVRAM which does not require a keep-alive battery. [Thanks to Dave, KD7UM for this info]
There are battery eliminator devices for most handy talkies. They snap on in place of your regular battery and have a cord that plugs into your car cigarette lighter socket or other similar 12 volt source. In most cases they boost the power rating of your radio and are very handy in an emergency. These are available in many cases for radios that are 30+ years old right up through the most modern models. Check Ebay and Google for your radio model number and the word "eliminator" or "battery eliminator".
Be careful when buying after market chargers for your handy talkies. They are VERY handy and will NEVER overcharge your battery. Many HT batteries only have contacts where they connect to the radio. However, many of the after market chargers have contacts meant to mate with contact on the back, side, or bottom of the battery so that it can be charged while attached to the radio. Be sure you specify which one you need when ordering units like the Universal chargers with drop in replaceable charging cups.
NOTE: It is nice to have aftermarket chargers that can charge your HT battery OFF the radio, then you can have one battery on the radio and be using the radio while the other battery is charging.
APRS - APRS - APRS - http://www.aprs.org/ - APRS - APRS - APRS
The above web site has TONS of info on APRS. If you think APRS is only for tracking mobile radios as they drive around, you are in for a surprise. APRS is being used to announce ham radio events, weather warnings, hazardous info on roads with date, time and GPS coordinates, and lots, lots more. Check the APRS web site for even more info.
Dave, KD7UM has done lots with APRS and reports the following. You can get a used Garmin GPS5 for around $40.00 and it will connect to your APRS capable radios for APRS. Some good APRS programs are UView32 and APRS Point. If using a USB to Serial cable with a GPS, be careful, Dave only gets cables based on the FTDI chipset to work with GPS units.
Lots of USB things on USBGear.com.
Here is an interesting and very useful set up for APRS. If set up properly, your radio can "page" you when you are within simplex range of another APRS radio and you can then communicate (voice) with that station while continuing to monitor APRS data. This info (and TONS more) is from the APRS.ORG web page listed above.
The national simplex frequency for APRS is 144.39 and HF APRS is on 10.151 MHz LSB.
Anyone who has a mobile radio that can do APRS who is not using APRS is really missing out big time on some fascinating and VERY useful ham radio experiences. Of course, Packet, APRS and EchoLink will be very prominent in any actual emergency. If you plan to operate from home in an emergency you NEED to have one or more of those modes available.
That's all for now. -N7OZH-
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