R&L Electronics is giving away 12 free radios. One a week for 12 weeks starting on March 4th 2013. More details at http://www.randl.com. They will give away 4 Kenwood TM-281A mobile rigs, 4 Yaesu FT60R dual band handhelds and 4 Alinco DJ-C7T pocket size dual band hand held radios. You can't win if you don't enter.
Excellent article in QST on page 59 about EMI noise on the Broadcast and MF/HF bands. The root cause is some halogen light for use under the kitchen counters that use a 20Khz transformer in the 120V to 12V power supply. They generate so much noise that DX on 160 meters through 80 meters is impossible. If you are a ham operator or scanner enthusiast, you do not want these units in your house. Sold locally by Home Depot, Costco and others.
Don't forget the Utah VHF society swap meet on Saturday, the 23rd. More info on the Utah VHF society web site or in the previous post on this blog.
Also, Eugene N7OVT and Carol KC7LLW still need more hams for the Scouting For Food drive on March 23rd. They are trying to get 50 hams singed up and currently have 10 according to the listing on ARPSE.ORG. Go there to add your name to the list.
If you have old ham gear or manuals or magazines lying around, the ARRL museum is trying to collect all types of old ham stuff (even old QSL Cards) for their museum. Go to the ARRL web site for more info.
Three MAJOR changes have come to ham radio gear in the last few years and the trend is still speeding up. The three are: 1. Computer connections to allow saving/restoring your settings and in some cases also allow programming the radio. This is true of HF rigs, mobile radios and even HTs. 2. Radios with memory card slots so that you can add a micro SDHC or standard SD card and back up all your radio settings. Now you can restore lost radio settings without having a computer on hand. Just plug in the memory card, make a menu selection and your settings are instantly (almost) restored. The Third change is in battery chemistry. Current ham radio batteries include Alkaline, Lead-Acid, NiCad, NiMh, Li-Ion, Cobalt and Manganese-Phosphate. Each type has its own strengths and weaknesses and we will discuss those on tonight's net.
Gotta go set up the rig. See you on the net. -N7OZH-
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