Watch out! Intruder Alert from DK2OM

Strange signals are often present on the Amateur radio bands. But who can tell what they are or where they come from? That's DK2OM's passion. Like a lion hunting his prey, Wolf scans up and down the bands looking for signals that are out of place. Using more than $25,000 worth of high-end equipment and software, he analyzes what he finds and reports it to the DARC (Germany's version of the ARRL). They, in turn, work to prevent the signals from returning,

Wolf says some of the worst offenders currently are the signals from Russian and Iranian OTH (Over-The-Horizon) radar. These extremely powerful signals are designed to peak over the natural curvature of the earth and detect missiles or aircraft up to 3,000 miles away. The signals often result in broad swaths of noise in the 20-meter amateur band.
 
Thanks to VoIP technology, DK2OM was able to tell his story to the members of the RCARC during the August meeting and encourage them to join the hunt to intruders on the ham bands.
Listen to the complete by clicking on the video. Here is Wolf's latest Intruder Report and more information about his work. Thanks to DK2OM for his monitoring work and giving up time to speak with us!

Soon to be New Ham in Rusk County

Congratulations to Dana Ashby on passing the Technician Exam last Saturday morning! Not only did Dana pass the exam, he aced it with 100% correct answers.

Dana had been studying the Tech theory manual and arranged for us to meet him this past Saturday morning at the Fire Station and administer the exam.

My thanks also to Ken KZ5S and Craig AF5RI for assisting with the exam. As soon as the FCC gets Dana's license granted, we can expect to hear him on the air!

Shreveport Hamfest set for Aug 8

The Shreveport Hamfest has been set for Saturday, August, 8th and is expected to be bigger and better that than last year's success. The Shreveport Amateur Radio Association which hosts the event have moved it to the Ag Building on the Louisiana State Fair Grounds in Shreveport. Organizers say this will allow for more parking and much more room to move around.

Several presentations are scheduled including one from George Thomas, W5JDX, a broadcast engineer and regular co-host on Ham Nation as well as producer of AmateurLogic.TV. Tommy Gober, N5DUX, and instructor for the ARRL Education Technology Program and faculty member at LeTourneau University, will discuss WebSDR with the Raspberry Pi.

The hamfest's vendor list has also grown this year with MFJ and Main Training both expected to be on hand. The event's website shows that all vendor booths have been sold out.  More than a dozen radios will be given away including a Yaesu FT-991 and a Kenwood TS-480 SAT.

Admission is $5. More information and directions are available at ShreveportHamFest.com

New Winlink Primer by Area Ham

Many of us in Rusk County have worked with Winlink either at home or during an emergency drill. Even more of us have at least heard about it and may have thought about diving into it some day. That would be a good idea since Winlink is quickly becoming one of the standard tools used in emergency communications by hams.

While there is a lot of information out there, some of it can be confusing. Now John, N5TIM, has drawn on his extensive experience in emergency communications to create a nice primer on the Winlink system and how it can be used effectively.

The document was recently posted to the North Texas ARES Yahoo site and we are making available here for anyone interested in learning more. (And just FYI, I never remember to ask him why his callsign is "TIM" when his name is John.)

Click here to read or download the Winlink System Information.

2015 Field Day a great success!

This weekend, the Rusk County Amateur Radio Club hosted a local Field Day station as it participated in the nation-wide emergency preparedness event. This year's station was again at the Rusk County Office of Emergency Management's Emergency Operations Center, located at the rear of the county courthouse, 115 North Main Street in Henderson, TX.

Several club members helped out this year, from 1pm Saturday through 1pm Sunday. The club's special event callsign, K5R, even drew several pile-ups that sent the adrenaline pumping for whoever was operating at the time. And special kudos to Tom, who logged like a mad-man for throughout several pile-ups. Also thanks to Richard, K5RRB, for providing the perfectly cooked rib dinner Saturday night!

This year's Field Day operation netted more than 700 contacts on several bands thanks to a new vertical antenna installed, at least temporarily, on the roof of the OEM building. The final score is still being tallied thanks to several opportunities for bonus points.

Each year thousands of amateur radio operators take part in a two-day emergency communications drill which often feels like more of a contest. Each station attempts to contact as many other statinos as possible while operating from remote or unique locations.

Survey flight over the OEM roof

Jon, NU5G, brought out his remote-controlled helicopter Monday to perform a fly-over of the OEM building. The club is planning on placing an HF antenna on the building for use in emergency communications but access to the roof is extremely limited. in order to avoid using costly equipment to climb to the top and get a peak for planning purposes, Jon took to the air and got a great shot of the roof.

The roof was surprisingly sparse. But that actually makes sense, considering it was built as a jail and would have been designed to prevent easy access from inside the building.

The next step it to look closely at the video footage and decide exactly where and how an antenna can be secured to the roof.

Sugru: Duct Tape meets Playdough!

Can there be something as fun and creative as Playdough and as practical as duct tape? As a ham always looking for cool new things, I think so! It's called Sugru.

It's a new material which looks and feels like Playdough in your fingers. It comes in variety of vibrant colors and can be molded into a million different shapes. But it's after you shape it that the magic begins. simply let is sit for 24 hours to "cure" and it turns into a firm, almost rigid form of rubber. It will adhere to most surfaces and is waterproof and durable.

My first experience with Sugru came after my son dropped his table computer and splintered off a small piece of rubberize plastic trim around the edge. With a pea-sized ball of Sugru, pressed into the hole where missing piece had been, his tablet was as good as new and it was almost impossible to see the repair.

I used large marble-sized ball to create a mic holder for my FT-100D. It's looks good and works well. The Sugru website has hundreds of creative ideas of how to use the interesting stuff. There are a couple of downsides.


Once you open the Sugru package, it starts curing, which means you have to use it or loose it. for that reason, they sell it in small, single-use packets (about the size of a bite-size miniature candy bar). And it's not the cheapest fix. It comes in a pack of three for $12 or eight for $22.

Intruder Alert! Who's on the band?

Wolfgang Hadel, DK2OM

If you've spent any time at all cruising through the HF bands, you've likely come across an out-of-place signal or two. Perhaps it was an voice in the middle of the 20-meter CW sub-band or music playing at the top of 15 meters. Perhaps it was a strange data signal that sounded like RTTY but just kept repeating itself over and over again. "Where is that coming from?" you thought.

If you're Wolfgang Hadel, it's just another day on the hunt. Wolf, better known as DK2OM, spends a good portion of his time listening for rogue signal in the ham bands and trying to figure out who it behind them. He co-ordinates the International Amateur Radio Union's Monitoring System in Region 1 (Europe, Africa, Middle-East and Northern Asia). Each month Wolf compiles a newsletter highlighting what he has found and it can be very interesting reading to say the least.

Each report is filled with a spreadsheet of signals heard and their possible sources. There is also some graphs which show just have much of the bands some signal cover.

Wolf often forwards information on the worst offenders to governmental authorities who in turn can file formal complaints. In one recent case, and intruding signal even interfered with emergency traffic originating out of Napal, which is recovering from the effects of a massive earthquake.

Here is a copy of the most recent monthly report.
There is shorter version with the most recent updates available here.
Visit the monitoring system's website for more information.

Fun Stuff from the ARRL's Contest Guy

I've never scored very well in a contest, but I do appreciate the ARRL's regular "Contest Update." It goes well beyond the normal list of events and where to find contest rules. In fact, Ward Silver, NØAX, goes out of his way to compile a TON of interesting tidbits of information that appeals to more than typical contester.

Here's a some of this week's update I thought was interesting:

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TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION

Measuring RF power/signal strength accurately is a non-trivial undertaking. Mike N8MSA strongly recommends this Keysight (nee Agilent nee Hewlett-Packard) tutorial or this older, more detailed treatment. Both cover the complexity caused by different modulation types, bandwidths, onset rise-time and numerous other factors.

A sky full of CubeSats? There will be if Planet Labs gets enough funding to fulfill its dream of taking one full-Earth snapshot every day! (Thanks, John WV8H)

Repurposing champ, Charlie NØTT found a great method of cable control. "I use plastic guttering from the local home center for use as a wiring/cable tray. I homebrewed some brackets to attach it to the back of my desk then cut access holes I wanted with a hole saw/drill."Every time we turn around there is a new technique to do something in your own lab which previously required special machines and techniques. Here's an EE Times story about alternative ways to do your own PCB fabrication.

Brian N9ADG found a one-dollar add-on clip to fix that RJ-45 connector with the broken-off tab that allows your microphone to fall out of the rig and under the passenger seat where you can't reach it and have to pull all the way over to the shoulder to get it and then you can't merge back on to the highway and wind up late! Wait, what was I talking about?

Technical Websites of the Week - Glenn WØGJ spotted this article about disturbances in the upper atmosphere resulting from the recent earthquake in Nepal. Does this imply a mechanism for short-term propagation caused by quakes? On the Sun, nano-flares can stir things up and add heat to the corona - like it needs to be any hotter - resulting in changes in our upper atmosphere, too. Elsewhere, the Daily Mail takes the pulse of Ol' Sol with an article about two-year cycles inside the Sun driving big solar storms. Big cycles, little cycles - as long as they make sunspots, who cares?

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If you're an ARRL member and would like to receive the ARRL Contest Update yourself, you can sign up here.

New Section Manager for ARRL's NTX

Nancy McCain, K5NLM

The ARRL North Texas Section has a new Section Manager. Nancy McCain, K5NLM, from Fort Worth, formally took over the position on May 1, succeeding incumbent SM Chris Brewer, N5GMJ. Brewer resigned due to increased work and family commitments.

ARRL Field Services and Radiosport Manager Dave Patton, NN1N, made the appointment in consultation with Brewer (who recommended McCain for the post) and ARRL West Gulf Division Director Dr David Woolweaver, K5RAV. Brewer, of Saginaw, has served as the North Texas Section Manager since April 30, 2013.

McCain, who is presently a North Texas Assistant Section Manager, has been active in ARES, RACES, and in Army and Navy MARS. She is a retired emergency management specialist. She will complete the current term of office as North Texas Section Manager, which runs until March 31, 2017.

Here's the full story on the ARRL's website.