Monday, October 28, 2019

Antenna change over!


Success! The new Channel 3 antenna in place!

What a beautiful day for a helicopter and climbers to change out the WSTM Channel 3 TV antenna at Sentinel Heights. 

Today was the day! The helicopter and climbing crews arrived early for a pre-work review and safety meeting. By noon the climbers were in place and the helicopter had arrived. By 1pm the old antenna was removed and set on the ground. It took another 4-1/2 hours to remove the old mounting brackets, install the new mounting hardware and finally set the new antenna in place.


Removing the old Batwing Antenna!

The old antenna that was installed in 2001 is being replaced as part of the FCC mandated television frequency repack  which is driving major changes to TV transmitters and antennas all over the country.

Read more about the project in our post from earlier this year : https://www.upstateham.com/2019/07/its-been-great-run.html







Sunday, October 20, 2019

Winter SkyWarn Training

 Folks its that time again!

Winter SKYWARN Spotter Training Classes are coming!

Most upstate NY counties are conducting Winter SkyWarn Training in October and November.


The training will be held at various area locations and on-line. This class is for beginners or anybody that has a general interest in weather. These classes train volunteers how to accurately measure and report snowfall totals to the National Weather Service. The class is free and open to everyone; no age requirements, previous training, or equipment is required.

The SKYWARN program is a nationwide program that provides real-time severe weather reports to the National Weather Service. "Trained weather spotters provide valuable lifesaving information to the National Weather Service and we encourage those who have an interest in weather to participate in this critical program," said David Nicosia, Warning Coordination Meteorologist in Binghamton NY. "Despite all the technological advances, SKYWARN Spotter reports are still crucial to the National Weather Service in providing more accurate severe weather warnings," Nicosia continues.

See the full training schedules at:

Binghamton (Syracuse):  http://www.weather.gov/bgm/outreachSKYWARNtraining
Buffalo (Rochester): http://www.weather.gov/buf/Skywarn
Albany :https://www.weather.gov/aly/skywarn

Learn more about SKYWARN and Amateur Radio at: http://www.upstateham.com/p/skywarn.html



full Binghamton NWS training schedule and deatils at:
https://www.weather.gov/bgm/outreachskywarntraining

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Tech Class - Syracuse November 16th & 17th


The Bear Bait Radio Club will be holding a Technician Licensing Class November 16th and 17th 2019 at the Clay Highway Department, Clay NY.

No charge of the class, VE exam will be held after the Sunday Class, and will have a $14 exam fee.

Complete details may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/courses/clay-ny-13041-25 or at wa2dtn@gmail.com


de Scott WA2DTN

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Balloon Launch - Sat. October 19th, 2019

UPDATE: Congratulations to Mike and the entire Balloon team! They had a beautiful day for this flight.  The balloon traveled almost 70 miles in just over 2 hours reaching altitudes over 100,000 feet! Go see the video of the launch and trip at the You-tube link referenced below!


The Amateur Radio Club at Cornell, W2CXM,  in cooperation with the Five Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America will be hosting a High Altitude Balloon launch during their 62nd annual JOTA Jamboree on the Air event on Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 10:00am.  

The balloon will be launched from the JOTA event in Howard, NY.  The payload is expected to reach 100,000 feet and land approximately 70 miles downrange in the vicinity of Richford, NY.  If all of our technology works, we will be live streaming live video from the payload for the duration of the flight.  

The stream will be available on youtube beginning at 9:45am here:  https://youtu.be/wfGLo4DYhq0   
Additional tracking links will be in the “Description” of the youtube page.

From: Mike Hojnowski / KD2EAT,
Advisor to the Amateur Radio Club at Cornell




Monday, October 14, 2019

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

NY QSO Party - Saturday 10/19/19

We're getting close........the NYQSO Party is a week from this Saturday.   

Check out the activation page at NYQP.org:
  

 Please upload your NYQP plans...please activate your county or one close to you.  Please ask your friends to get on the air.  The spotlight will be on NY on Saturday 10/19 from 10am-10pm eastern time. 
  
NYQP rules are here. 
  
  
Exchange is:  Signal Report and County Abbreviation for in-state and Signal Report and state, province, DX for out-of-state.

Also check out the current plaque page:
  
  
NYQP has the best Sponsorship Team in the game.  When you see one of the sponsors, please tell them thank you.  Without them, a healthy NYQP could not exist.


Friday, October 4, 2019

RARA Academy - Workshops: HF Operations in the Park


Saturday — HF Operations in the Park

October 5th, 2019 (10am-5pm)
Topics: HF Field Activities — This is a GREAT opportunity to learn from experienced operators and use a variety of antennas and equipment. Acitivities:
Antenna Demonstrations: Dipoles, EFHWs, Random Wires, Ground mounted Verticals and any others that we can come up with.
Antenna Installation Techniques: Air Canon, Fishing Pole, Sling Shot, Weight Toss, Tripods and mounts for Verticals.
Minimum HF Provided Equipment: (12vdc) Yaesu FT-450, FT-857D, Kenwood TS-440. IC-7300, and FT-991A. Bring your own rigs like K2, QRP rigs etc.
Battery Power Types: Sealed Lead Acid, AGM, Li-ion, Solar Panels
HF Operating (Getting on the Air): Making QSOs on SSB and CW.
Since this is an all day project, RaRa will provide charcoal so we can BBQ our lunch. BYOB (Bring your own Burgers or Hots). Food is not provided.
This is a GREAT opportunity to learn from experienced operators and use a variety of antennas and equipment. There is plenty of room and tall trees for antenna installations and testing.
Location: Operations will be at the Durand Eastman Park in the Acorn Shelter.
Sign-up is not required. Come any time.
Please take advantage of the RaRa sponsored training and operating opportunities.

Timothy Brown,
FCC Callsign: WB2PAY
RaRa Education Coordinator
cell: 585 750 2087

Northern NY Bird Tracker help

Any readers in the North Country that can help?

"I saw this on Facebook and is in our area.
Only a few days left according to the post."
from Jim,N2NXZ