I couldn’t have been more surprised (and pleased) with the turnout for our recent meeting on EZ ways to
learn Morse Code. True, when we discussed program ideas for this year Learning CW scored highly. The attendance really supported the suspicion that many members have a slow burning desire to learn this wonderfully simple mode. For a variety of reasons many hams are looking to “stretch” their skills and experience something new. I hope you found the information and tips provided is helpful and are beginning to expand your skills one character at time.
The immediate future, at least, is CW. Have you listened to the HF bands lately? We are definitely at solar minimum. Give CW a chance and you’ll never regret it.
By the way, a very helpful site for HF operators is www.bandconditions.com. Check it out. The site is updated every 30 seconds and shows indicator meters for the 160 through 15 meter bands that indicate the present band conditions. Dig into the site and the algorithm behind it is explained. The site was moved to a new server recently so you’ll be redirected to the new location.
Going into April we can be certain that more storms are in our immediate future.
And with those events we can be sure to see the sky flashing a lot.
Lighting is one of my greatest concerns and I hope it is for you, as well. As one member pointed out some time ago, “Our antennas are designed to capture electrical energy and bring it into our home. In an electrical storm, that’s exactly what they do.” So some good advice might be to avoid operating when storms are imminent and keep your gear disconnected when you’re not using it. Hearing a surprise rumble, I’ve gotten up in the middle of the night to check to see if I remembered to disconnect my antennas.
At our April 3rd meeting, area building inspector Mark Moro, WJ8WM will give us a presentation on this critical topic of protecting your life, family, home, and equipment from the dangers of LIGHTNING. Importantly, we will not only learn about the problem, but how to prevent lightening damage.
Also at the April 3rd meeting Jim Bis, N8FND will demonstrate his new Flex-1500 software defined radio transciever. This QRP HF+6 transceiver from FlexRadio Systems has been getting rave reviews. Come and see this on-air demonstration!
Hal Rogers, K8CMD President, Communications Director