Tuesday, November 23, 2021

SKYWARN™ Recognition Day -2021

 

Skywarn Recognition Day will be December 4th, 2021

SKYWARN™ Recognition Day was developed in 1999 by the National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League. It celebrates the contributions that SKYWARN™ volunteers make to the NWS mission, the protection of life and property. Amateur radio operators comprise a large percentage of the SKYWARN™ volunteers across the country. The Amateur radio operators also provide vital communication between the NWS and emergency management if normal communications become inoperative.

Skywarn RD website link: https://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarnrecognition

Skywarn RD Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srd2021


Message from Micthell Gaines at the Binghamton NWS office on 12/3/21:

From all of us here at the National Weather Service in Binghamton we thank you for being weather spotters! Your service is invaluable for the community and for us at the NWS. Normally, we would have an event with HAM licensed radio operators. However, with ongoing circumstances we still wanted to reach out virtually this year. 

To represent your community you can register here https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/6af367236b8b499f8a3c40110e58a596

 If you have any questions you can reach myself mitchell.gaines@noaa.gov or Bryan.Greenblatt@noaa.gov anytime. 

Saturday, November 20, 2021

How to coil up coax cables

I was struggling to coil up a 100' of coax last weekend and remembered reading about the "over & under" method to keep twist out of cables for storage. I quickly looked up and found the article I had book marked about this sure fire coiling technique. (I also found a nice video to demonstrate it; see the link below)

The "over/under" name refers to the practice of twisting the cable in one direction to make the first coil, and un-twisting it to make the next, and repeating this until all the cable is neatly coiled. 

Steps to "over/under" coil your cables:

1: Grab your cable and start with an overhand loop.

2: Flip the cable, and roll it underhand to create the second loop.

3: Repeat overhand and underhand until the cable coils entirely in a circle.

4: Use a velcro tie or cable tie to secure the cable in place

Care should be taken to keep each end on its proper side of the roll when uncoiling otherwise a knot will appear with every other loop. This method works both clockwise and counterclockwise, for both right-handed or left-handed individuals.

Link to a very good video of coiling 100" of coax : https://qrznow.com/quick-tip-coiling-coax/

(Video link from QRZnow.com)


Saturday, November 6, 2021

RARA Amateur license courses

 Rochester Amateur Radio Association has upcoming licensing courses in Jan. 2022:


(from the Nov 2021 RARA Rag)


Upcoming Rochester VE testing sessions: https://hamstudy.org/sessions/laurel/14612/inperson