MARA NET - Update
During last week's net I was informed that I was "dropping out" and "hard to copy". Various people offered on the spot analysis and suggestions. The net was ended early and I was depressed thinking that I was going to have to send my radio to the factory to have the finals repaired.
After the net I got a call from Rex Extes who said that his grandson had just received his call sign and they had spent part of the day trying out various repeaters. The best two (strongest signal, easiest to hit) were 146.700 and 147.16. He also said they could not communicate on the 146.74 MARA repeater!
We fired up our radios and went to 146.700 and 147.16 and had S9 reports with full quieting. On the 700 repeater I was hearing Rex at S9 +20! He copied me perfectly and said that I was "bending his needle" on the signal strength meter. The problem is not my radio.
Unfortunately it is probably not the repeater either. Other MARA members were getting through 146.74 and 448.10 with no problem, no dropouts and perfect copy.
You may remember that KC7RUF used to call the net two weeks out of every month. Now he can hear the 146.74/448.10 repeaters but they cannot hear him. He has not moved, changed antenna positions, or switched radios. Something has appeared between his house and the repeater antennas that is blocking his signal.
I have noticed during the past several weeks while driving to work in the morning that the U of U is building a new parking structure. The metal framework is getting taller each week as new floors are added. That METAL structure is in the direct line from my house to the MARA antennas and may have reached a critical height where my signal is blocked.
Further experimentation is in order and I will let you know the results. The net may need a new Net Control operator or I may need to call the net using a mobile setup from down the street or a block or two over.
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Last week we discussed ways to clean the germs off of your ham radio gear, computer, phone, tablet, game controllers, etc. I was going to excerpt the article but decided instead to simply post the link to the entire article. The article starts out talking about keyboards, but if you click the ">" button you will proceed on through tablets, phones, ear buds, etc. Very useful information. There is soon going to be a LOT more disease in America - there's no reason to have your own electronic devices also trying to to infect you. Here's the article.
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Ham radio operators use electricity in ALL our gear. We get used to plugging things into the wall to recharge them. That is already becoming more expensive and it is only going to get worse. A lot worse. The current administration has promised us that under current energy policies, all forms of energy are going to SKYROCKET in price. You can watch them saying it on YouTube. Here is a link to a print article that talks about the history and trend in electricity prices.
Ham radio operators use electricity in ALL our gear. We get used to plugging things into the wall to recharge them. That is already becoming more expensive and it is only going to get worse. A lot worse. The current administration has promised us that under current energy policies, all forms of energy are going to SKYROCKET in price. You can watch them saying it on YouTube. Here is a link to a print article that talks about the history and trend in electricity prices.
As for "alternative" forms of "green" energy, here is a fascinating article about wind power.
-N7OZH-
