KJ4EKS Ham Radio Blog

QSL: LOTW & eQSL

2009-01-01T22:45:00.000-08:00

I have set up my Log Book of the World Account (Lotw) from the ARRL and my eQSL.cc accounts. You may send me an electronic qsl via these programs. Although, I do not mind receiving a printed postcard either. 73 and a Happy New Year !!!!!!!

Hams looking for homes in West Palm Beach Area

2008-12-28T11:42:00.001-08:00

If you are interested in buying or renting a home in the West Palm Beach area please visit my fiancée website http://www.lindabassitt.com . She will give you a FREE list of ALL homes in the area that you are looking for. i.e. Wellington, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, Boynton, Delray Beach, Lake Worth, etc.

She can be contacted at Linda@LindaBassitt.com . Unfortunately she is not a ham (yet!). But as she helps me in my projects (dipole construction, etc.) she ask more and more questions . When she is ready, I am certain she will take her ticket.

General License

2008-12-28T11:42:00.000-08:00

On saturday December 27, 2008 I took my General License exam in St. Petersburg Florida. My licensed was upgraded from Technician to General, thus allowing me to operate on a large portion of the HF band capable of around the world communications. I thank all the VE's on my exam who were very amicable; I hope to see you on the air.

73,

Heathkit

2008-06-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

When I was younger one of the first things that got me interested in electronics was a box my father had sitting in our garage closet. He was also a radio amateur, KA4SRJ; although with his busy work schedule he did not have much time to dedicate to the hobby.

After my inquiry he began to teach me about electronics and the fascinating world of amateur radio.

In a nutshell Healthkit was a kit electronics company which manufactured do it yourself soldering electronic kits, among other things. Consider it as a Ramsey Electronics on steroids.

Taken from Wikipedia:

Heathkits were products of the Heath Company, Benton Harbor, Michigan. Their products included electronic test equipment, high fidelity home audio equipment, television receivers, amateur radio equipment, and the influential Heath H-8, H-89, and H-11 hobbyist computers, which were sold in kit form for assembly by the purchaser.

The Heath Company was originally founded as an aircraft company in the early 1900s by Edward Bayard Heath. Starting in 1926 it sold a light aircraft, the Heath Parasol, in kit form. Heath died during a 1931 test flight. In 1935, Howard Anthony purchased the then-bankrupt Heath Company, and focused on selling accessories for small aircraft. After World War II, Anthony decided that entering the electronics industry was a good idea, and bought a large stock of surplus wartime electronic parts with the intention of building kits with them. In 1947, Heath introduced its first electronic kit, an oscilloscope that sold for US$50 -- the price was unbeatable at the time, and the oscilloscope went on to be a huge seller.

After the success of the oscilloscope kit, Heath went on to produce dozens of Heathkit products. Heathkits were influential in shaping two generations of electronic hobbyists. The Heathkit sales premise was that by investing the time to assemble a Heathkit, the purchaser could build something comparable to a factory-built product at a very significantly lower cash cost. During those decades, the premise was basically valid. Commercial factory-built electronic products were constructed from generic, discrete components such as vacuum tubes, tube sockets, capacitors, inductors and resistors, and essentially hand-wired and assembled. The home kit-builder could perform the same assembly tasks himself, and if careful, to at least the same standard of quality. In the case of their most expensive product, the Thomas electronic organ, building the Heathkit version represented very substantial savings.

One category in which Heathkit enjoyed great popularity was amateur radio. Ham radio operators had frequently been forced to build their equipment from scratch before the advent of kits, with the difficulty of procuring all the parts separately and relying on often-experimental designs. Kits brought the convenience of all parts being supplied together and the assurance of a predictable finished product; many Heathkit models became well-known in the ham radio community.

CoCoRaHS

2008-06-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

CoCoRaHS is an acronym for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. We currently operate in many states across the country. If we are not in your state please drop us a line and let us know that you have an interest in participating. This helps us know where a desire exists for the network and where to focus our future expansion efforts.

Taken from cocorahs.org

To join please visit: http://www.cocorahs.org/
All you need is a simple professional rain gauge, love for weather, and the willingness to contribute to a great cause.

Winlink 2000

2008-06-20T05:19:00.000-07:00

My Winlink 2000 email account is KJ4EKS@winlink.org

Radio Blackouts

2008-06-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

To check for radio blackouts caused by solar interference, check out the NWS, space weather prediction site @:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

Geocaching

2008-06-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

If you own a GPS and looking for an exciting time outdoors geocaching might be just for you. To read about more information regarding this hobby please visit http://www.geocaching.com

Nothing beats an old school treasure hunt with modern technologies in sunny south Florida. Geocaching is fun for the whole family.

Palm Beach County Luxury Realtor Linda Bassitt

2008-06-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be appropriate to add the link to my fiance's website: www.lindabassitt.com
Linda Bassitt is a Palm Beach County luxury Realtor based in Palm Beach, FL. She is very supportive of me and my hobby, plus she has promised to get me some new goodies(espcially one that has D-STAR) once she closes her next major deal; given the fact that I am using rigs that are 20 + years old that belonged to my father.

Slow Scan TV (SSTV)

2008-06-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

I have been a licensed ham for only three weeks now, but I have already participated in digital forms of transmission via SSTV. With the help of the members of the Wellington Radio Club past Sunday, June 15, 2008. I received and transmitted my first slow scan television pictures via the 2 meter Wellington radio club repeater @ 147.285 (+).Some examples of what I received:

From W4FK Bob:

From KS4NB Larry:

Scott AF4KK the net operator of the weekly slow scan net, held every Sunday at 7:30 on 147.285 repeater helped me in seting up the proper programs to make this possible.

Title MMSSTV:

The program can be found @ http://mmhamsoft.amateur-radio.ca/mmsstv/
It is free as long as it is not used for commercial purposes.

Background Information:

Slow-scan television (SSTV) is a picture transmission method used mainly by amateur radio operators, to transmit and receive static pictures via radio in monochrome or color.

A technical term for SSTV is narrowband television. Broadcast television requires huge 5, 6 or 8 MHz wide channels, because it transmits 25 or 30 pictures per second (in the NTSC, PAL or SECAM systems), but SSTV usually takes up to only 3 kHz of bandwidth. It is a much slower method of still picture transmission, usually lasting from about eight seconds to a couple of minutes.

Since SSTV systems operate on voice frequencies, amateurs use it on shortwave (also known as HF by amateur radio operators), VHF and UHF radio.

Taken from Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow-scan_television

American Radio Relay Leauge

2008-06-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

www.arrl.org

From beginners to experts, the only website you will ever need to know about amateur radio in the United Staes

Wellington Radio Club

2008-06-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

The official webpage of the Wellington Radio Club in Palm Beach County Florida is: http://www.qsl.net/k4wrc/

Palm Beach County ARES/ RACES

2008-06-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

For more information and those amateur radio operators willing to offer their services during times of need please visit: http://www.pbcares.org

The official page of the Palm Beach County Amateur Radio Emergency Service/ Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service.

VOIP-WXNET

2008-06-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

Skywarn spotters can now join echolink "WX-Talk" the official Skywarn and Hurricane Net echolink node(#7203) . A practice net is held every Sunday at 0000 UTC (8:00 PM EDT, Saturdays) during hurricane season. For more information please visit: http://www.voipwx.net/

Skywarn

2008-06-16T21:29:00.000-07:00

On Saturday June 7, 2008 I went to the Palm Beach County E.O.C. to become a certified storm spotter. The Skywarn program is a nationwide severe weather spotter network consisting of volunteers trained to inform local National Weather Service office of severe weather reports from the field.

Those who are Skywarn certified spotters located in Palm Beach County, you can join the Palm Beach Skywarn Yahoo Group

Click to join PBCskywarn
Note: You must be certified Skywarn members to Join

Welcome to my blog

2008-06-03T23:23:00.000-07:00

I am a recently licensed amateur radio operator out of Wellington, Florida, U.S.A. . My call sign is KJ4EKS. Please feel free to call me on the local 2m repeater of the Wellington Radio Club @ 147.285 (+) or on Echolink node number #: 387346