Spring SkyWarn Training

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Binghamton has started spring SkyWarn training. They have both On-line and local training classes available. I can personally speak of the great job the NWS Binghamton office does with this training. 

What is SKYWARN?

The effects of severe weather are felt every year by many Americans. To obtain critical weather information, NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, established SKYWARN® with partner organizations. SKYWARN® is a volunteer program with nearly 290,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service.

More on SkyWarn and Amateur Radio:
http://www.upstateham.com/p/skywarn.html

Link to the training schedule:
http://www.weather.gov/bgm/outreachSKYWARNtraining

147.39 repeater update from WN8Z; Pat

3/25/15 - 147.39 repeater update:

A quick update on the progress of the Yaesu Fusion repeater in Fulton on 147.390. I now have all the components on the bench - DR-1X. Arcom RC-210 controller. ADR external interface, HRI-200 WiresX interface, Echolink interface, laptop pc and a spare duplexer and will be working diligently in the evenings to get everything working correctly. There are a few unpublished quirks concerning the repeater that Yaesu didn't tell us about when first released, and a few typos in what docs they did release. All in all it looks to be a worthwhile and doable project.

The GE Mstr II was taken off the air Wednesday and in it's place is a loaner Kenwood repeater that is putting a signal out on the air during the transition to the DR-1X. I have no timeline when the DR-1X will be placed in service.

A special shout out to Jack, W2QYT, (keeper of the Auburn double O) for the use of his spare "floating" baby repeater allowing me to keep .39 on the air, and to the other repeater guru's who have contributed to the 39 project!

de Wn8z

Check out this inspiring video, what have you made lately?

Check out this video - especially those of you who have tried to contact the International Space Station or various satellites. Even home built antennas in this one! We need some commercials like this in the USA to promote getting more young people into our hobby.

link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxU1ZhINaHk

The story:
MTN Global’s latest brand commercial tells the story of a little boy who discovers, via MTN's world class internet, that it is very simple to build a homemade radio that will allow him to actually speak to an astronaut in space. He tries and fails and tries again, using the New World of MTN to embark on a journey of discovery that takes a rather unexpected turn. Because that's the thing about discovery, there's always more to discover. (MTN is an International Telecommunications company that targets parts of Africa and Asia)

Let us know what you think....leave a comment below:

Support Legislation to address Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions imposed on Hams

We received a nice note today from WB2WGH, Ron in Liverpool, NY, concerning legislation impacting many amateur radio operators.

Please see Ron's note below and consider contacting your elected Representatives to show your support using the sample letter that Ron has included here.

.....note from WB2WGH:

"Many of us live in CCR () areas. Per the ARRL, the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015, H.R. 1301, has been introduced in the US House of Representatives. The measure would direct the FCC to extend its rules relating to reasonable accommodation of Amateur Service communications to private land use restrictions.

Drone Footage of Tower Demolition

Great video sent by one of our UpstateHam.com contributors. Watch this tower fall!

Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4vghs8DxOE&feature=youtu.be


http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/drone-footage-of-tower-demolition/274982

147.39 Fulton Repeater - Fusion update from WN8Z

3/12/15 UPDATE from WN8Z; Pat:

The Fulton WN8Z/R, 147.390, went Yaesu System Fusion Wednesday evening. The first Fusion digital qso between WA2ISC  and myself was a complete success!

The repeater is currently set in "Auto/Auto mode. This means that digital in = digital out  & Fm in = Fm out. This setting will remain until Saturday evening, Mar 14 when the Ge Mstr II will go back in service. The system will remain inconsistent during the week as we experiment and continue working on upgrades in the repeater shack.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate soon for the antenna upgrade.

Analog audio quality is exceptional using the internal controller and I am very pleased with the digital quality.

As mentioned in my previous post - the repeater is on the air as supplied out of the

Amateur Radio VE exams

Saturday, April 18, 2015,  Amateur Radio VE exams.  

Registration is from Noon - 1 p.m. for Tech, General or Amateur Extra levels.

Held at the Liverpool Public Library, 310 Tulip Street, Liverpool.

Applicants  should bring 2 forms of ID, one with your picture; and  FCC exam fee of $14  (cash or M.O.).  

Exams are held quarterly and are sponsored by the Syracuse VE Team. 

Any questions?  Please call 698-4558 or VEexams@hotmail.com

More VE exam and training information here:
http://www.upstateham.com/p/you-want-to-be-ham.html

New time for the QCWA 6 Meter Net on the 53.05 repeater

The QCWA 6 meter net on Tuesdays will now begin at 7:00pm, a half hour earlier than usual. Please help spread the news and hope to hear you on the net. (Auburn, 53.05mhz, 71.9 PL)

from Brian KB2VSN

Newark 224.90 repeater upgrades

The 224.90 repeater in Newark has some updates according to the trustee N2TKR; Tom. The frequency is 224.90 (-), and a PL tone of 82.5 has been added. It is located at the same site as the 146.745 Drumlins repeater.  

It is on the air, with a new receiver and Tom has also added a link to the KA2NDW repeaters. I am receiving it full scale here, 10 miles south of Auburn and I can bring it up DFQ with 10 watts. Give it a try some time.

"Frozen Lakes on the Air" expedition (FLOTA)

KD2ETP; Steve is doing his “frozen lakes on the air expedition”; FLOTA, at Onondaga Lake this Saturday 2/28/15. Catch him on his HT on the KD2SL 146.67 repeater for details. See his planned times and HF frequencies listed below:

 - this will be my band plan for my frozen lakes on the air expedition this weekend. I will plan to get on the ice and set up between 10-11 am Saturday morning.

40m 7.285 (7210 at 3:10pm)
20m14.285
17m 18.115
10m 28.885

Starting at 11am and one hour on each of those frequencies will also have a HT and be monitoring 146.67 while out on the ice. Running QRP on my KX3 and a Buddipole antenna.

(UPDATED with a some pictures fresh from KD2ETP, N2DOW and WO2R)

Please give me a call!

Steve; KD2ETP

WN8Z with A Fusion demo at this weeks QCWA meeting

At the February QCWA meeting this Friday 2/27/15, WN8Z; Pat will be conducting a demonstration of his Yaesu Fusion Digital radios. Fusion is coming to several repeaters in CNY this spring. Come learn from one of the areas pioneers of Digital Voice.

The Quarter Century Wireless Asssociation (QCWA) meetings are held the last Friday of each month; 11:30 am at the Denny's Restaurant on South Bay Rd (corner of Lawrence Ave) in North Syracuse (near the Syracuse Airport). QCWA meetings are open to the public.

Check out this interesting web site!

Over the last several weeks I have had a few conversations with other Hams about how to share information with newer Hams or Hams just returning to the hobby after an absence of years. What is the best coax to use? Which connectors solder or crimp-on? How are you grounding your radio?

One of the most useful web sites that I have found for sound technical amateur radio advice is K0BG.com (link:http://www.k0bg.com/). I find myself going back to this site quite often. K0BG; Allen Applegate has done a very nice job pulling together a large amount of very detailed information.

Quoting Allen; "With safety as a byword, there are articles on amplifiers, antennas, bonding, impedance matching, installing hardware, mobile equipment, noise and RFI abatement, wiring, and much more. The suggestions contained on his web site are based on a best foot forward approach, from my experience". The site is well laid out and very easy to navigate.

There are several dozen topics down the left side of the page.
Some of my favorites are:
- Coax annd PL-259 connectors: http://www.k0bg.com/coax.html
- Grounds, RF & D.C.: http://www.k0bg.com/ground.html
- Installation Notes: http://www.k0bg.com/install.html
- Tricks of the trade: http://www.k0bg.com/tricks.html

....just to name a few! Check it out. I don't think you can go wrong spending a few minutes on this site.

Another source of useful Amateur Radio information is the LARC Bootcamp training series on the 4th Thursday of each month prior to their regular club meetings. Learn more at:
http://www.liverpoolamateurrepeaterclub.org/index.php

And don't be afraid to ask for help! ......and to the more experienced, don't be afraid to share some of that knowledge you have gathered through Amateur Radio. That's part of what makes this hobby great; sharing your experience with others.

The Rochester VHF Group

Are you interested in FM DXing and the world above 30 Mhz? The Rochester VHF Group has Monday and Thursday evening nets on both 2M and 6M. We have mentioned them on this site once before, but we heard some folks talking about this group and thought we should get out a link to their web site. The Rochester VHF Group is the oldest continuously operating amateur organization dedicated to VHF and above activities. Be sure to learn more about this group at the address listed below.

The group meets twice a week on the air for an open net. Why not give them a listen, better yet a check-in?

144.260 Mhz SSB on Monday's at 9pm 

50.200 Mhz SSB on Thursday's at 9pm

Learn more about the group at:http://www.rvhfg.org/

Learn more about System Fusion

There is quite a bit of discussion of Digital Voice (DV) modes on the local repeaters lately, especially System Fusion. There are several Fusion repeaters in the works here in Upstate NY and all are expected to be on-line before this summer. We found some helpful information from a club that was part of Yaesu’s Beta program and thought that we would share it on UpstateHam.com. The Yaesu System Fusions FAQ's can be found at the link below.

See our Digital Voice for Amateur Radio page at: http://www.upstateham.com/p/digital-voice-for-amateur-use-discuss.html

(then scroll down the page to the "Yaesu System Fusions FAQ's")

Drumlins Hamfest, April 18th, 2015

We just revived the Drumlins 2015 Hamfest poster. This is always a very good Hamfest, so put it on your calendar!
More information at : http://www.drumlinsarc.org/hamfest.htm