N4OFA - A Roving Ham

Amateur Radio Friendship

mikewechsler — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:26:29 +0000

WB5RMG

My friend Alan Sieg (WB5RMG) is mentioned in this article; he works at NASA and is the driving force in the rebirth of the Marshall Amateur Radio Club (WA4NZD). Alan lived in Kingsport and was a member of the Johnson City Amateur Radio Association – JCARA (W4ABR), he came to many FIELD DAYs with a small portable satellite station and burnt up with the rest of us. Alan now lives in Huntsville and works with all those big computers that keep track of what is going on with the International Space Station.

The first time I met Alan was when I visited his home and he showed me his Satellite station with a pair of 432 and 2 meter crossed yagis and an EZ/EL rotor, two or three computers lit up with tracking software and the FT736R radio automated to follow the Doppler shift of the received downlink signal. Man I was impressed/hooked, I could not leave; “What is that? What does this mean on the computer screen? The questions just poured out and he tried to answer them all. What great memories of visiting with Alan over the years and sharing together our interests in Ham Radio. He became one of my best friends.

I have to say, to me – this is what is important about Ham Radio; making lasting friends, sharing common interests, learning from each other … I love this part of the hobby.

If you are not reaching out and making lots of Ham Friends, you are missing what this hobby is all about.

Here is that article link again :
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/24jan_solarsail/

For more information :
NanoSail-D Mission Pages : http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats/nanosaild.html
NanoSail-D Dashboard information : http://nanosaild.engr.scu.edu/dashboard.htm
NASA/MSFC Amateur Radio Club : http://wa4nzd.wordpress.com
Alan Sieg – WB5RMG : http://wb5rmg.wordpress.com

Hawkins County ARES

mikewechsler — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:59:06 +0000

Kevin asked me to forward this email to our group :

—–Original Message—–
From: Kevin Evans
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 11:10 AM
To: mike wechsler
Subject: Lasts nights meeting
Hi Mike, Could you please forward this on to the rest of your group for me?
We would like to thank you all for coming out and showing support for our group. I think it was a big morale booster for all of us. The presentation could not have been better, everyone seemed very engaged and I’m sure well have more than a couple using winlink very soon. Please let us know how we can help you and your group in the future.
Thank you all so much.

Kevin Evans
KJ4HKE
Hawkins County ARES EC

I know some of you could not make this meeting, there will be other opportunities where you can contribute. Thanks to everyone who was a part of the demonstration of Winlink. We were able to show off the HF Winmor and the VHF Airmail package. There were lots of questions and genuine interest by the whole Hawkins County Club. I was encouraged by their reception and their enthusiasm, I think some of the enthusiasm rubbed off on me, I look forward to the next demo or maybe even a Saturday where we will help them with setting up their Winlink stations.

Excellent presentation by Dean and outstanding participation with Washington County ARES EC and three of the AEC’s and Alan Lark our new DEC was there with the new EC for Sullivan West ARES. A great turnout for our ARES district. Working together, this makes us a team, with confidence in our abilities and that of our members; it draws us closer together, it makes us stronger.

I always have a good time, can’t wait for the next presentation.
73 Mike

Hints for ham building

mikewechsler — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 17:38:56 +0000

Those of us who build/make/repair always love tools and how to’ info.
Check this link for hints from AD5X ….good stuff. He has lots of good articles on his site.
http://www.ad5x.com/images/Articles/VariousHintsRevB.pdf

Had a great time at the Hamfest with all our packet guys, the Demo went well for Winlink and we got some real interest generated. Thanks to all who helped and encouraged. Good to see Jeff there with his set top boxes, I think some of those will make it on the air.

Almost time for the packet net…. see you there.

Best 73 Mike

Sunrise on Brown Mountain Overlook

mikewechsler — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 09:41:25 +0000

I woke up to the sound of the owls as they greeted the sunrise, a very peaceful time. I heated up my coffee and sat in my camp chair and watched the sun rise over the mountains.

Sunrise on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Not a bad way to start your day. No, I did not see any of the Brown Mountain Lights, but at 4am I did see the Milky Way against the black velvet sky, what a beautiful sight. I wish I could capture that on film.

When I left to drive over to Mount Mitchell the clouds were just leaving the Blue Ridge Parkway and as the sun was shining through the mist and creating the montage of light and dark from the trees, I could feel the peace that you can only get from the mountains all around you.

What a wonderfully beautiful place we have on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I am going to have to go back in Oct and camp there…..you should make some plans to join me.
73 Mike

Plans for Shelby Hamfest 2010

mikewechsler — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 06:53:08 +0000

Good Morning everyone,

Just think, this time next week we will be at the Shelby hamfest, digging through all the toys, I am really looking forward to this years hamfest, I plan on arriving after noon on Friday. Please share this email with those who were not in my email list and would be coming to Shelby Hamfest.

First here are my WANTS: 10 meter mobile for a IF for my DEM 222 transverter. Uniden 2510, 2600 or a Radio Shack HTX-100. Keep me in mind if you see one at a reasonable price, not a CB price.

DownEastMicrowave (DEM) TIBK board
The DEM TIB is a circuit that will interface any transverter to any transceiver that has an ALC input circuit. Generates a negative voltage to ALC in your radio.

Need two TCK Xverter control IF switch. 10W input max. w/ adjustable atten., 9V regulated supply, w/24V relay driver. PC board kit

These DEM boards are for my 10 Ghz whitebox, I am using manual switches right now, I made a couple of contacts this June and that got me excited again to finally finish these.

10GHZ AT THE HAMFEST: Dex always brings his system, I especially enjoyed him showing off the 10 Ghz beacon reception at Shelby last year. I would like to bring my system this year and make some contacts, SO BE SURE AND BRING YOUR STATION AND LETS HAVE SOME 10GHZ FUN.

PLANS FOR SHELBY: Last year on Saturday evening after the hamfest had died down, I stopped by one of the Barbeque places just as they were leaving to go home. After a poor mouth’ lament by me on how much I was looking forward to one of their barbeque platters they went back and got me a BIG bunch of Barbeque with sauce and buns. They were super nice to do this. Anyway, went over to Dex’s van and shared this with all the guys, a great time talking and eat’in. I miss our Sat hamfest dinners, so why not just order something from the Barbeque places and spend some good times this next Shelby? We can check with the food people and see what the cost would be for each person, get a list and the money and now, a INSTANT VHF/UHF/MICROWAVE PARTY. Just bring your chair and a cold drink.
What do you guys think? We can make some plans for the Contest the next weekend.

I will have my rover van with antennas and gear at the hamfest, please stop by for a cold one’ and visit a spell. My cell phone is 423-xyz-1234. I setup on the last road with the RV’s, across from where Robin and Bob Lear were last year.

I look forward to seeing everyone and hearing your contest plans. Yea for Robin and Fred Flowers who will be roving this contest, exciting news.

73 Mike N4OFA/R

Antenna building

mikewechsler — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:55:25 +0000

One THING THAT I most enjoy about ham radio is always learning something, how others do something, little tricks that make things easier. Building antennas are a challenge and I am always trying to learn how other hams do their building. I remember this site from a while back, an excellent way to mark both sides of the antenna booms for drilling the element holes. Some of my past attempts were less than precision but this looks like a excellent way to have straight elements down the boom.

http://www.w6pql.com/antennas.htm

Note that he also has some excellent construction articles on his web site as well as some kits for building. Wish I had some of his skill and technical ability.

I am getting more and more enthusiastic about roving now that I have the van functional, (note that it is not finished only functional). I did get out in June and had a great time although not being able to get up on Roan Mountain was a major disappointment. This September contest I hope to work more of the microwave guys, when everyone’s making the RF dance, we can have more and more fun……

It is great to see more Tennessee stations getting higher microwave bands. Imagine three or four stations on 2304, I can see the time when we will have pileups on the microwave bands. I think some of you have microwave gear that just needs to be installed, antennas on the tower…..CQ CQ DE N4OFA/R N4OFA/R …

I really want to get my 5760 system working, it has been sitting on a shelf now for 2-3 years….I would love to have something ready for the Sept contest. The 10w amp needs to be converted from the +28v power supply to use 13.8v, or maybe I just need to run it off a couple of batteries until it is converted. I have the antenna and feed built already…. guess I need to come up with a foldover mount for the dish so it rides well on the van. I think there are many grids to work on 5760….can’t wait.
Here is an article I found on the conversion. http://g4fre.com/avantekpa.htm

Hope everyone is coping with the heat wave, we just had a nice rain this evening, feels wonderful.

What is your latest project or interest ?

73 Mike

Kindness in Ham Radio

mikewechsler — Sat, 08 May 2010 19:27:46 +0000

I believe in kindness, gentleness, in dealing with my fellow man.

Here is a excellent article showing that kindness not only has the best outcome but it is the best for business. We all need a gentle nature when dealt with, a empathy that smoothes relationships, and creates lasting friendships.

KINDNESS IN HAM RADIO

Hope you enjoy the article as much as I do.
Mike Wechsler N4OFA

Scott County VA ARES

mikewechsler — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:38:48 +0000

Jim is the EC for Scott Co VA and the Drill he mentions will be on TWO DAYS, May 14 Friday and May 15^th Saturday. The main staging area will be in Fairview, VA and according to Jim, this is a tough place to get out with RF. May 1^st I will take the Van with my yagi antenna and a packet station to Fairview VA and their ARES group will test each of the other sites and see how well everything works. Those who have working packet stations would be most welcome for the drill and test. This Drill is a good opportunity to use our stations and learn some new things and to make some new friends in another ARES group.

According to Jim, there should be quite a show going on during the drill and a lot of different agencies involved. Sounds like lots of fun to me……

From: Jimmy L Flanary
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 11:17 AM
To: Mike Wechsler
Subject: Thanks

Mike,

I wanted to thank you for coming to our meeting last night. I didn’t get to spend as much time with you as I would have liked.

I had been putting down new flooring all day and I was just worn out. I am so sore today that I can barely move Hi Hi. I really wanted to go with you to get a bite to eat, but, I was just way too tired. I just wanted to go to bed and rest up.

If you can find out just who will be able to help us with the exercise and send me the names, I will get them on the list and turn it in on May 2nd. I don’t know yet just how many messages will be passed from the Fairview school back to the EOC and 911 Center, but, we always have a few just to make sure that everything works.

As I told you last night, the exercise will start at 8:00 A.M. and end at 12:00 Noon. Lunch will be served and hopefully everyone will have a full belly when they leave. It’s always a lot of fun and has been the last several years that we have been having these exercises.

I believe that packet radio is the wave of the future and I also believe that it is the best way to pass traffic that is sensitive in nature. It has always been a useful tool for communications, but, the invention of Winlink and Airmail make it an even more valuable means of communicating. Emergency Managers like to keep messages private and not available to the general public. Packet radio does just that.

Thanks again, Mike. I really appreciate all of your help. Hopefully, we will have our node on 145.730 by tomorrow evening. I am anxious to see just how it will work from the top of the mountain.

Very 73,

Jim Flanary K4GV

Gone to Morganton NC hamfest this weekend….might fire up the packet station from one of the mountains.

73 Mike

WB5RMG soundcard interface

wb5rmg — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:02:25 +0000

As promised, here are the pics and schematic for the VHF packet soundcard interface I built. Construction is in the standard Altoids tin box, quick and simple point-to-point wiring. I use this direct into my Yaesu FT-736, so it has the PTT signal on a RCA phono connector, and audio in/out in a 3 conductor plug. The radio interfaces on the right side, the cables on the left go to the laptop; separate plugs for audio in and out, and the PTT is derived from the RTS (pin 7) signal on COM1. I use this with AGWPE, and can connect multiple programs at the same time; such as UI-View32, AGWterm, etc…

WB5RMG soundcard interface

Inside construction - simple

The schematic is simple, click the image for a larger view – but it is just a scan from my shop notes… The switch provides a test position (right), off (center), and Program PTT (left). The LED illuminates when keyed by the computer. I also have a variety of additional boxes to interface with different radios, mostly to accommodate different connectors. The next version incorporates a VOX switch as described by Skip Teller (KH6TY) in his QST article from June 2009, on page 30.

Shop notes for interface (click bigger)

Build one of these, build a few, tell your friends – get digital, on the air .!.!.
73 for now /;^)

Site Update 20100306

wb5rmg — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:22:57 +0000

OK Mike, I’ve added a few things to the sidebar: your twitter comments, the APRS map, the ISS locator, and a handful of links to other sites of interest… I’m trying to figure out how to add the little image in the sidebar (width = 180), but here is the same pic sized for a regular post (width = 500).
73 for now … /;^)

N4OFA with his SR-71 @ USSRC - 2008