Prepare for Field Day 2013

Wishing to learn more about Ham Radio? Make plans to seek out a local Ham Radio Clubs Field Day exercise that's coming up next weekend, Sat. June 22. Attend a field day event and meet some Ham Radio operators,  they'll be eager to show you how to get on the air... heck they'll likely set you down in front of a radio and let you communicate with Hams all over the nation! 

Experience Field Day once, and you'll know you'll be doing it again & again. It's Ham Radio's way of experiencing radio operations under emergency "field" conditions. From the very beginning, Ham Radio has risen to the call, responding to emergencies, providing vital communications. Over the years, the last Saturday in June has become "Field Day"... an occasion to test skills & equipment, preparing for when the need arises. Amateur Radio has been Prepper before there was Prepper! 

The capability to Bug Out, set up & operate effectively takes practice. That's why Field Day is important. It offers a way to test methods & equipment. It's also a lot of FUN! Don't be shy, don't pass up a great chance to meet local Hams, see Ham Radio gear in operation, experience first-hand how... "When everything else fails... HAM RADIO WORKS!"

Looking for a local Field Day event? Try the ARRL Field Day Locator!

National Hurricane Awareness Week May 26 - June 1st.

Kicking off the 2014 Hurricane Season, the National Weather Service has designated May 26th through June 1st. Hurricane Awareness Week. If you go on their website, you'll find a week-long schedule of info & video's to help everyone be better prepared. Like they say on thier website,"History teaches that a lack of hurricane awareness and preparation are common threads among all major hurricane disasters. By knowing your vulnerability and what actions you should take, you can reduce the effects of a hurricane disaster." Check out more HERE.

Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season

Jimmy Buffet wrote a pretty song... about getting drunk and leaving town as the way to cope with a coming storm.  For most, the latter part has merit, the leaving town part. The getting drunk part... well not so much.

As Preppers, and especially as Ham Radio Operators, preparation is the key. Making a plan, and collecting the necessary resources to support your plan well in advance of any threat, then implementing your plan at the right time if the time comes, is the smartest way to reasoning with Hurricane Season. Nothing to write a song about for sure, but the only safe & sane way to prepare for one of Natures deadliest catastrophes.

It's smart to have many bases covered, multiple plans to cover multiple scenarios. Make Bug-out plans, and hunker-down plans. There are many factors to consider, and all will be determined by circumstances, some within, and some without your control. Smarter still is to recognize the time to prepare, (WHICH IS NOW)... not one week, one day, or one hour before landfall.

If you look upon your planning as having overlapping circumstances, you can better prepare. For example, if you live within a threat area, protecting your property with storm shutters, as well as securing loose outdoor outdoor items is smart whether you plan to hunker down or evacuate. Same with gathering important insurance papers, medicine, or securing sufficient cash to live on a few days, all are common sense steps in any plan.

KI4HEE Bug-Out: I can take my rig to a shelter, or on the road.

The other side of the coin is the specialized steps in your planning... dependent on specifically what you are planning to do. Will you be totally leaving the area? Or will you leave your home, but head to a Red Cross Shelter? There are big differences in what to plan for in each scenario, again depending on circumstances.

And while no plan can ever cover everything, that too can be anticipated and prepared for to some extent, by factoring in some flexibility in your planning.

So trying to reason with Hurricane Season may seem like something requiring a good stiff drink, but with some forethought and early preparations, the specter of a major storm heading your way may not be such a sobering event.
Need some motivation? Check out this video... it works for me, since it was shot less than 4 miles from my home. What strikes me most is the 13+ hours of constant roar of hurricane-force winds. GET PREPARED!

Amateur Radio in Hollywood

from Sparky's Blog cqdx.ru

In an episode tentatively scheduled to air Friday, March 15, the hit ABC comedy Last Man Standing — starring Tim Allen as Mike Baxter, KA0XTT — will feature a secondary ham radio storyline. This is the first time that the show will highlight Amateur Radio in its plot, showing various cast members on the air and communicating via ham radio.

In Episode 217 — called “The Fight” — Mike’s daughter Mandy (played by Molly Ephraim), gets her cell phone taken away as punishment. She discovers Mike’s home shack in the basement and uses ham radio to make faraway friends. According to Last Man Standing Producer John Amodeo, NN6JA, the home shack is a brand new set built just for this episode. The ARRL provided many of the awards and certificates — including 5 Band DXCC, 5 Band Worked All States, 5 Band Worked All Continents, VUCC (for 50 MHz), the Diamond DXCC Challenge and the Morse Code Proficiency Certificate — seen on Mike Baxter’s home shack wall. READ MORE

Free Repeater Directory for iPhone & Android

Repeaterbook.com, a fantastic source for Amateur Radio information, now has a FREE repeater directory app for Android & iPhone! Armed with a UHF/VHF/HF radio and this handy app, you'll have repeater communication all over North America! 

Repeaterbook, Powered by the popular community database of RepeaterBook.com and software of ZBM2.com RepeaterBook enables you to easily find repeaters across the USA and Canada, for free and without a network connection.

• No network connection required.
• Use network, GPS or a grid square to find Repeaters.
• Displays your grid.
• Comprehensive selection and sorting options.
• Displays distance, heading and full repeater details.
• Fast and flexible, designed to help you use the repeater network.
• Easily submit updates from within the app.

All Ham Radio Repeaters listed on your Android, or iPhone!

Cape Cod Field Day 2010 Demos many Ham Radio Modes

Burt Fisher K1OIK, shot a video back in 2010 of the Falmouth MA Ham Radio Club's Field Day. It has great examples of some of the many different modes of radio communication you can do with Ham Radio, as well as how each year, the last weekend in June is when Hams all over "take to the field" and do radio. What are your plans? Find out where a local Ham Radio Club near you will be doing field day & stop by. It's a great way to learn more about the hobby, meet local Hams, and even get a chance to get on the air yourself. 

This definition is as good as any...

 Albert Einstein, about the radio...

Albert Einstein, when asked to describe radio, replied: "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat.
You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. 

The only difference is that there is no cat."