Space Shuttle Discovery Launch

Stayed up to follow the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery last night at 11:59 est. Watched NASA TV on the web while listening to the Solid Rocket Booster Recovery team on 7.833 Mhz. The Echolink feed of the shuttle audio was not working last night so Dan-KF4MND pointed his node to the 147.330 repeater so that we could all follow things on our radios. Had quite a few operators positioned around town to monitor the comm and view the launch. I monitored from the QTH here in Sandfly and was able to hear some of the air to ground transmissions. Mac-KF4LMT monitored from his QTH near Bacon Park and was able to copy all of the air to ground transmissions from his monitoring post. Kevin was out on Tybee Island with his astronomy club and was able to observe the shuttle as it ascended up the east coast. Paul-KJ4FAV was at Fort Pulaski and also had a good view. Bob-W4WTO was on Wilmington Island and also observed the launch. Dan-KF4MND also saw the launch and copied the air to ground from all the way inland in Long County. Interesting note......three of the astronauts on Discovery are HAMs.

K4GIV Homebrew Slim Jim Antenna

One of our local operators, Tom-K4GIV, just completed a very nice antenna project. He build a 2 meter Slim Jim antenna to work all the local repeaters as well as simplex. His initial reports have been good. Tom is going to write a summary for an upcoming club newsletter. Folks, this is one of my favorite aspects of the hobby. Great job Tom.

Tested the Memorial Medical Center Station Today

After breakfast with the guys this morning I went over and tested the Amateur Radio Station K4MUM at Memorial Medical Center. I met Carl-KC4UHM in the radio room and we got the station connected and fired up. Got good comm checks on 146.970 with KG6MUQ and AJ4MY and then on 442.700 with KA4CID. Also tuned up the primary Georgia ARES freq of 3.975 Mhz and got a good check with another Georgia station up near Lake Sinclair. Packed everything up and put it away till next time. Next time we hope to get the 1.2 Ghz D-Star radio up and running.

Got my Personal Weather Station Back Up

Got my La Crosse Personal Weather Station re-located and back up and running today. The station reports the weather data back to a base station here in the shack wireless on 433 Mhz. I've also got the base station connected to a computer and the data is fed up to my blog as well as to the weatherunderground website.

Good Trip To Atlanta......with some radio work along the way

Had to run up to Atlanta for work the other day. Decided I'd play a little radio on the trip. I downloaded the Atlanta Fulton County area frequencies from radioreference.com into the scanner so I could monitor some things while in town. Heard all the normal public safety stuff as well as Atlanta airport traffic. Also took the opportunity to put out a call on the Georgia Tech repeater W4AQL (http://cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/w4aql/index.php) since Andrew-KI4WHN just started school there this week. I made contact with another Andrew, KI4SSU, who happens to be the Georgia Tech Radio Club vice president. Had a nice QSO with him and told him all about Andrew. He's looking forward to meeting Andrew and showing him around the radio station there. On the way back to Savannah I checked into the Georgia Traffic net on HF. Then I worked a couple of DX stations including WP2B in St. Croix. He had a nice signal and gave me a 59 report. Good to know the FT-857 and the High Sierra antenna can get out mobile. I also set up a live video feed from the truck as I drove home. I had that stream feeding up to my blog and several of my friends were able to watch me as I drove. Real exciting, huh? But that was kind of a test for possible use in emergency response, disaster relief, or weather spotting. Good trip.

Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Recertification

I traveled down to the First Baptist Church in Blackshear last night for a recertification class for the Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Ministry. I'm a member of the Communications team and we deploy to the scene of disasters to provide assistance to victims during a time of true need. We have five distinct areas of ministry. They are:



1. Cleanup and Recovery
2. Childcare
3. Chaplaincy
4. Feeding
5. Communications
While each of these areas satisfy a real human need during times of emergency or disaster, our primary purpose is to share the Love of Jesus Christ.
GA Baptist Disaster Relief Website

Tested the New Generator Today

I finally got around to testing the new generator today. Fired it up around 3:00pm. I've been able to power two desktop computers, one laptop computer, one VHF radio, one dual band radio, one HF radio, my 7 in portable television, my cable modem, and a floor fan. Been running now for about four hours. Checked into the Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Net at 4:00pm then the Georgia Section ARES Net at 6:00pm. So far so good. The generator is really pretty quiet and should run for about five hours on one 1.5 gallon tank of gas.
**It actually ran for over 7 hours with the minimal load that I had on it. Not too shabby.

The Day In Radio

Had the normal Saturday breakfast with some of my radio buddies this morning. I really look forward to our time together every week to talk radio. I do miss Mr. Bigbie-W4MMQ though. I'll never forget him.





After breakfast today a few of us hung around and helped a new HAM to the area, Glenda-KJ4LWE, do some troubleshooting on her mobile HF radio. She's trying to get it to connect to her laptop so that she can run PSK31. Keven-KW4B, Mark-KA4CID, and myself tinkered with it for a bit and then decided we'd step back, do some research, and then try it again later. We did rule out some things but still couldn't get it to work. However, later in the day, Kevin and I both determined that we were not using the correct port on the radio. Now it all makes sense. Maybe we should have read the manual first.........nah, not as much fun that way. Anyhow, we'll do some testing then get back with Glenda at a later date to get things up and running.

After that Kevin and I headed over to Candler Hospital to unpack and test the new VHF/UHF radio on the newly installed dual band antenna. Candler is one of our "Served Agencies" for Chatham County ARES. We put the analyzer on the feedline to test the SWR and we found that it was a little high (about 3:1) on 2 meters but just fine (1:1) on 70 cm. We went ahead and got good comm checks on all the local repeaters and even a couple up in South Carolina. At least now we know we'll be able to communicate from Candler if needed. Thanks to Mac-KF4LMT and Mark-KA4CID for the help with the checks. We'll need to get Savannah Communications out there to test the line again on 2 meters just to be sure everything is ok. We might also need to see if there is an adjustment that we can make on the antenna to bring it resonant in the 2 meter band. After we get all that sorted out the next big step with be to get the HF radio ordered, installed and tested. Once we're done at Candler, we'll move on and get things up and running at St. Joseph's Hospital. One step at a time.

Video Stream From Amateur Radio Station K4GTM

Watch periodic streaming video broadcasts from Amateur Radio Station K4GTM.

How's this for a Net?

This is the net that we used to establish on the Worldwide Airborne Command Post as part of the Post Attack Command Control System. Good 'ol Cold War stuff baby!

HF Antenna Repairs

I had an HF Dipole get blown down during one of the storms earlier in the week. Another good reason to have two antennas up out back! Finally got around to getting it repaired and back up in the trees this afternoon. My son, Jackson, was a big help. I used my magic softball to launch the lines back up. Everything is up and running now.

EOC Training Today

Ted-KJ4EGZ and I attended an Emergency Operations Center training class today at the Chatham Emergency Management Agency EOC. We now better understand how the EOC is manned and the procedures involved with managing an emergency. We'll be back there tomorrow to learn about the Web EOC application and then run thru an exercise. We have an Amateur Radio Station -N4CEM, located in the EOC that we are tasked with manning during an EOC activation.

Talked to Steve Jonas-K4SDJ Today

I talked to Steve today for the fist time since he was hospitalized on July 3rd. He sounded good. He's in a normal room now and the doctors think he may be able to go home in the next week or so. Praise God. He asked me to go over to his house and disconnect power from his radios and disconnect feedlines from his antennas. We've had some severe weather in the area and he wanted to be sure that everything was isolated while he's away. I should have thought of that before but he's good to go now.

New Generator

Got a brand new Honeywell HW2000i 2000 watt generator thanks to my good friend Ted The Bargain Hunter - KJ4EGZ. Got it for about 30% of normal retail price. Thanks Ted. Now I get to see just how much of my Command Center I can power with it. Come on hurricane season. http://www.honeywellgenerators.com/products/hw2000i

Checked into W4MM Weekly 2 Meter Net

While down in Valdosta on business/pleasure tonight I checked into the Monday night Albany Amateur Radio Club 2 Meter Net from the Valdosta Amateur Radio Club repeater via the Tall Pines Intertie. This is the club the Dr. Gene-W4AYK (Georgia ARES SEC) belongs to and he was on the net. I also checked in back in Savannah on the 146.700 repeater via the W4SGA Echolink Node. Had a nice QSO with Robert-KJ4HAL.

Quarterly Chatham County ARES Meeting

Had a great ARES meeting tonight at the Southside Fire Station. Good turnout from Chatham and surrounding counties. Gave a summary of events since the last meeting and an overview of upcoming activities. Then we had a very nice class on Formal Message handling from Charles Pennington, K4GK. Charles is the Section Traffic Manager for the Georgia Section. We really appreciate Charles coming down from Sandersville tonight. Now we can begin practicing message handling on our local nets and exercises.

Shuttle Endeavour Launch

Well, I've been following the launch (or lack thereof) of the Shuttle Endeavour for the last three days. It has now been delayed five times now. I went down to Titusville for the last launch and had a really good time. This launch I'm hoping to monitor tha air to ground transmissions during liftoff from right hear in Savannah. I've done it a couple of times before. Once from out at Tybee Island and once from here at the house. Once the Shuttle reaches a certain altitude we will have line of sight from here in Savannah. I'll be monitoring the air to ground comm on 259.700 using my VX-7R, my ID-800H, and my Pro-96 scanner. We'll see which one will be able to hear the best. I'll use two external antennas that are up in the trees at about 30 feet and an homebrew ground plane antenna that I have in the attic. I'll also tune the HF rig to 5.711 to try and catch the Solid Rocket Booster recovery team communications. Next lauch attempt will be on Wed, July 15th. I'll post again after the launch.

4th of July HAM Station

I set up a simple station at the Southside Baptist Church 4th of July Community Picnic and Fireworks Display over the weekend. Kind of a last minute idea but thought it might be fun to operate a little since I would be outdoors most of the day. I borrowed Mac-KF4LMTs battery and G5RV Jr. antenna and found a good spot to setup in right field of one of the ball parks over there at Paulsen Sports Complex where we were having the picnic. I put up a 12 x 12 canopy and setup my station on a small table that is perfect for events like this. I brought along my Yaesu FT-857D and my LDG Z-11 Pro tuner. In no time I had the radio and tuner connected to the battery thru my RigRunner power panel. Next step was to get the antenna up in the air. I solicited the help of Charles Cobb, one of my friends from church. We used the magic softball and a spool of chaulk line. Charles flung the ball up and was able to snag one of the foot pegs on the outfield light post. Did the same on the other side and tied everything off nicely. Got it up about 30 feet. Took just about 15 minutes. Hooked the feedline to the tuner and boom, I'm on the air. Operated for about an hour before my wife called me over to help with the picnic. My job was to cut up 30 watermelons! Dang, that's alot of watermelon. It took me about 3 hours till we ran out. Then I was able to clean up and get back over to the radio station. I operated right on thru the fireworks display and even had the opportunity to explain HAM radio to a bunch of my friends and my daughters friends. After the fireworks ended I broke down the station and headed to the house. Sure was fun. The simpler the better when operating an event like that.

CARS 2009 Field Day Summary

Here is a very nice summary of our Field Day activities at the Coastal Amateur Radio Society as taken from our club newsletter......

After breakfast at Sunnyside Up, CARS members assembled at Southside Fire Department Station 1 on White Bluff Rd. at 8:00 AM to begin setting up for Field Day. As the temperatures and humidity rose, so did the antennas: A hex beam for 20 meters, dipoles for 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters, a 6 meter yagi, a military HF vertical, and a 2 meter/70 cm satellite antenna. We operated as a 5A station using the club call sign W4LHS. Radios were provided by various club members with a multi band setup on Philip’s military radio, dedicated stations for 80, 40, and 20 meters, and a 10/15 meter station. In addition to the HF stations, Ralph Quinn, W4REQ set up a 6 meter station and Dan Scott, KF4MND set up a satellite station. In addition to the antennas and radios, a wireless network was set up and logging software was used on the 80, 40, and 20 meter stations. That made logging the busiest of the 5 stations much easier. The recently renovated and improved club station, which is located at the fire station, was used for our Get on the Air (GOTA) Station as K4S on 10, 15, and 20 meters as well as 2 meters and 70cm. Many
thanks to those who showed up early to get the antennas in the air and the stations set up, without their hard work; the rest of Field Day would not have been possible. Field Day was a success. There were 45 total attendees throughout the weekend, with 25 staying for dinner on
Saturday evening. Propagation may not have been cooperative, our score may not have been high but we had fun, and that is the key thing. During Field Day, several CARS members made their first HF contacts and prospective hams were introduced to the hobby with the opportunity to get on the air. With the exception of dinner time, there were stations active for the duration, even over the "midnight shift." In fact, many 40 and 80 meter contacts were made in the late night and early morning hours. During the daytime, 10 meters and 6 meters didn’t decide to
cooperate with us, but 15 and 20 meters did. 302 contacts were made, 46 of which were CW contacts. The GOTA station contributed a further 35 contacts for a total of 337. After the score was tabulated, we had 1290 bonus points and 778 points from contacts. Field Day was also a success away from the radios. Saturday morning, in addition to station preparation also saw a VE session and an introduction to operating class. The VE session resulted in one new Technician Class operator, a
General Class operator who passed the Technician and General exams at the same session, and an Extra Class upgrade. Jack Beaty, Jr. earned his Technician Class license and Edward Meyers passed the Technician and General tests, earning his General Class license. Jack Beaty, Sr., KI4QAP earned his Extra Class license. Jere Conan, KT4ZB conducted the HF Operating and Radio Set up class prior to the beginning of operations to help new operators and those new to HF get a good start on Field Day and HF operations in general. Field Day brought two new CARS
members: Joe Carroll, AG4BO and Jack Beaty, Sr., KI4QAP. The Field Day dinner not only paid for itself, but also brought a small profit; $125 was taken in to cover the cost of $98. The after dinner auction raised $112.

Military Crossband QSL Card

Received my first QSL card from the recent Military to Amateur Crossband exercise back on May 9th. This one is from Station WUG-231, the Memphis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who were operating from the W.G. Huxtable Pumping Plant in Marianna, Arkansas.