As we become more dependent on advanced technology, we begin to sometimes value the reliability of low tech. When digital mp3 files vanish into the cloud, you think about those old reliable vinyl LPs in the box. When the internet or a wireless network goes down, the modern wired-up citizen of planet Earth is suddenly on some asteroid of media isolation -- hence the value of go old low tech analog, amateur radio. In the internet generation ham radio has also grown and the different ways of being connected do not compete they enhance each other. In fact, ham radio is more popular than at any time in U.S. history, according to a recent report from the American Radio Relay League.
read full article

The RSGB Club of the Year Competition is an RSGB Regional Team initiative designed to encourage local radio clubs to do more in their communities to promote amateur radio. Locally based, the idea is get recognition of your club's efforts by the amateur radio community. Independently judged, the competition concentrates on your club's contribution to promoting amateur radio, its contribution to training and education, charitable activities and general club activities. Each region presents its own trophy and all the trophy winners from around the UK are entered into a national competition where we select a National Club of the Year and two runner ups. There are trophies for the national winners and cash prizes too, so it is well worth entering.
read full article

MAKING first contact is a thrill for any amateur radio enthusiast and once you have the correct equipment it's a remarkably simple process. The first thing you have to do is tune the radio to a channel that is not in use. Listen for a few seconds then transmit: "Is this channel in use?" Listen for a few seconds for any reply. This procedure ensures that you don't interfere with another amateur radio transmission. The next step is to call using CQ and Call Sign (I would like you to contact me). Another station should respond and you can have a chat and exchange details, such as how well the other signal is coming through. The other station will give you a signal report in the form of a code, ie 5 9 which means you are transmitting a good clear signal and the other station is having no problem hearing you. There is no reason why, depending on atmospheric conditions, you cannot speak to amateurs all over the world using very basic equipment and low power. The serious amateur can have very high-quality antenna and radios with lots of power. Amateurs from other countries can use very high-power 1000 watts-plus radios and antenna systems costing many thousands of pounds, but you don't need this to talk to the world. During a recent special event Caithness Amateur Radio Society (CARS) received calls from Russia and Holland with the amateurs using one-watt and five-watt radios. Many amateurs transmit on the high frequency (HF) bands, others have an interest in other bands such as VHF (very high frequency) or UHF (ultra high frequency). These higher frequencies demand different methods and the use of specialist software to make long-distance QSOs.
read full article

Reading an article in the Nov. 6 issue of the Edmonton Journal headlined Morse code operators bid adieu to dying language prompted this week's Ponderings. For the past several years, this writer has been privileged to be in close proximity to several examples of telegraphic equipment, finding these communication devices not only fascinating as tools, but also as objects of art - attractive to the eye. The combination of wood and metal has a certain magnetism that speaks in a language that is on its way out, according to the aforementioned Journal article. "When we die, Morse will die, forever," George Campbell told a Strathcona County audience, recently. The 85-year-old Campbell is a member of the international Morse Telegraph Club. At age 19, he was a teletype operator in the Royal Canadian Navy. He conveyed the encoded message that Germany had surrendered. Campbell says he suspected what it contained, but as was his duty, he passed it to a specialist to decode.
read full article