Camelot on the Moon

For those who missed the holiday party last night, I read a posting from the TELECOM Digest entitled "Camelot on the Moon" by Don Kimberlin, who was a telecommunications engineer working for IT&T when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of the Apollo XI mission landed on the moon.  Don's article talked about the difficulties encountered making sure that the data, voice, and video feeds from the moon could be received and processed back here on earth.

For those interested, I went looking today for the original posting to the TELECOM Digest and found it in the archives, which you can read here:  https://telecomdigest.net/archives/history/camelot.on.moon-july.69

There were also several replies to this posting that are included in several succeeding digest issues... they can be found here:  https://telecomdigest.net/archives/back.issues/1994.volume.14/vol14.iss301-350 (NOTE, there are fifty issues of the digest on this page, encompassing several hundred posts... you'll have to search for "Camelot" to find the specific replies).

Sometimes, we take for granted the amazing resources we have available through the Internet today.  We have essentially unlimited access to historical documents, recorded voice and video, photographs, and an abundance of information.  Most of us have a small device that we can carry in a pocket or purse, that can be held in the palm of your hand, and that can provide access to all of this information.  Not only can it give you access to this data, it can be used to instantly communicate in voice, video, or text with people all over the world.  Think back to 1969 and realize that it was only 53 years ago.

As amateur radio operators, we enjoy using our equipment and capabilities to communicate with others.  Perhaps we take it less for granted as we have had to study and understand some of the technologies and physical principals that make it possible to do so, but when you sit and think about it, it really is miraculous what we can do.

As we continue our journey into the future, I hope we all remember how we got here and the challenges faced by those who came before us.  The future is bright, my friends... as bright as we make it.  Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!

Basic Topics Class – 3 November 2022 – RATPAC Beginner’s Guide to HF Week 1

RATPAC Beginner's Guide to HF, Week 1

We viewed the first week's session of the excellent RATPAC presentation Beginner's Guide to HF:  HF Bands, Modes, Making Contacts & HF Activities, which was presented by Anthony Luscre, K8ZT & Dennis Kidder, W6DQ.

A link to the presentation PDF is here:  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zw217051om5lxtu/AACiqQxRS3DG9J9HDudQiSuIa?dl=0 (this dropbox bucket contains all three presentation PDFs as well as additional notes from the Zoom session chats).

I'll add the links from the PDF later... wading through the presentation to extract all of the links is taking longer than I expected and I want to get this posted sooner rather than later.

 

One Day Technician Class at BYU

October 22nd one day Technician class at BYU.

 

The class will be from 8:30am and end at 5:30pm with a break for lunch at 1pm.

The class is very intensive due to time constraints but around 80 percent of the students get their license that day.  If you are not ready to take the exam the day of the class you may take it later.

The class is free.  The exam given in the afternoon is $14.

 

To sign up email uvhamtest@gmail.com

 

If you just need to take an exam you are welcome to come to just do that in the afternoon.  There is always an exam session the third Wednesday of the month at 7pm at BYU.

 

The FCC now charges a  fee of $35 to apply for an Amateur radio license.  This applies to new licenses, renewals and vanity applications.   The FCC license application fee is paid to the FCC.  You still pay the usual fee $14 to the VE team to take the exam.

 

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Multi-session classes are the best way to learn to get a license or upgrade.  If your time is limited or you are a quick learner a one day class will work especially if you will study on your own a little bit before the class.

 

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**  Note  You must have a Technician class license before you may take the exam for General.  You must have a General license before you may take the Exam for Extra Class.

 [Editor's comment, you must take and pass the Technician test before taking the General test, and you must pass the General test before taking the Extra test.  You do not have to wait until you receive your Technician licence before taking the General exam... just have passed the test.  It is possible to take all three tests the same day.  -KD7ZWV]

 

For classes available in other States check here:

http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class

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If you hear of any other classes being taught in Utah please email uvhamtest@gmail.com so I may share it.

 

If you or someone you know is having difficulty attending a class and wish to get a license please email me for links to free high quality study materials you can get online to study on your own..

 

If you have a license and wish to get deeper into the technical side or just get on the air to talk there is a new general interest Ham radio club in Utah County.

uvarc.club  (no  http://  is required just type “uvarc.club”  into the address bar of your browser).

 

Steve NV7V

Amateur Licensing, VECs, and VEs

Last week, our own Max (AI7LG) briefed us on how licensing works and especially the history and current operation of the VEC (Volunteer Examiner Coordinator) program.  As a relatively new VE, Max had a great review of the topic and was able to present a lot of useful information.

We tried casting this meeting via Zoom, but had some technical difficulties.  Because of that, we were unable to produce a suitable recording of the meeting.  I will include a link to the slides here, though.  I may be able to sync up the audio to a copy of the slide presentation over the next few days, but I'm not going to promise anything.

Without further ado, here is the link to the presentation slides:  AARG Testing presentation.

One thing to note, Max's VE group, Aurora Amateur Radio Group based in Alaska, is offering FREE remote testing until the end of 2022.  You'll still be on the hook for the FCC fee, but the testing fee is waived until the end of the year.

 

Radio History

As was mentioned on the last Sunday Net, we received a feedback form on the web site last week from Kathy Ackford, who is a youth services librarian for studymap.org.  Kelly has been using some information from our web site in support of a class she has been teaching 10-14 year old students about radio.

One of Kelly's students, a young man named Dylan, has been doing research on radio along with his father.  He found a link with some great information on the history of car radio.  While this is oriented towards broadcast radio (not amateur radio), it is still quite an interesting read and includes a timeline of how car audio has developed over the decades.

If you are interested, Dylan's link is here:  https://www.titlemax.com/articles/the-history-of-the-car-radio/

Note that I have scanned this link for malware and found it to be clean, but I have not traced all of the links within this page.  Remember your computer security and make sure your browser and system patches are up to date!

 

1.25m Mobile Radio Available

FYI, Dan (N7XDL) purchased an Alinco 1.25m single band radio from a swapmeet and is willing to sell it for the same price he bought it for... $50.  This is a great radio that will work well on our club repeater and can be used as either a mobile or base station (with a suitable power supply).  It would also make a decent addition to a go-kit setup.

If you are interested in buying this radio from Dan, please contact him directly.  If you need his contact info, use the contact form on the web site and I'll get it to you.

Basic Topics Meeting – 5 May 2022 – Shakeout Followup and Preparedness

Not your typical meeting on the "Revenge of the Fifth," but some interesting and useful information for our basic topics class this month.  We started with a review of the Shakeout and SAFE Neighborhood programs, along with our analysis of the club's participation in the Shakeout.  We followed up by moving into a discussion on preparedness, including reviewing Murray City Fire Department's resources.  Finally, we finished by watching a video produced by the Bountiful Emergency Preparedness group where they analyzed the Marshall fire in Colorado and discussed what is right and wrong about our emergency kits.  Several really good factors on preparedness were presented.

Here's the recording of the first part of the meeting:

Here's the recording of the Bountiful CERT presentation:

And here are some links as mentioned in the meeting: