Unfortunately, the contest mania has grown now to the point where almost every weekend, for two days straight (sometimes more) the bands become totally useless unless you're a conetester.   For me: enjoy what you want, but WHY do it at the expense of every other ham in the world?  There is a very common thought that if you're not in the contest then you have some secondary right to the band, because paper collecting is so much more important than any other activity - like communications for example.

I remember one git who would park on 60 meters with his 'voice keyer' , quite literally all day, everyday, because he wanted to get his 'Worked All States" on 60m.  Nevermind that it made the channel entirely unusable for weeks (did he even sleep?) but from just before sundown when the band would fade in from Arkansas to Idaho until late morning when it would fafe out, there was the same 'voice keyer'  "Alpha Bravo Five ....."  calling and only answering in person, when he felt like it was important for his WAS.
If someone did that on the street, he's get knocked down - and rightfully so.



73 de RadioRay
W7ASA ..._ ._

Actually - that is tremendous!  Clear text in context is so much easier to copy than groups - really.  Ray (hmmmm , that name sounds familiar) , go forth a conquer.  Go enjoy some short QSO's on the air!  That will make is more enjoyable and also give you a reward for your copy (or at least hearing loss...)   :o



>de RadioRay ..._ ._

Good - I had a TS-590s for a while and while for communcations work it was really superb, the shortwave listening always sounded harsh - I really cannot describe it well , but the 7200 has fine audio, which is amazing for a stock speaker in a communciations receiver. The T/R switching is fast enough for PACTOR III.

>>>  One point that I want to make though - I absolutely understand the desire for one rig to cover HF, VHF,UHF in the prepper's box.  I understand it.  The reason that I don't do that in addition to the thoughts above, is that I ///back when I did VHF// often had the VHF ON for local comms while I was working the HF set at the same time. I could not do that with a single HF/VHF/UHF radio.  OTOH - it does put all that capability in one small package.


Enough of this radio lust session!  ha ha ha I have to get some sleep.  Noon comes awfully early.


73 de RadioRay ..._ ._
W7ASA

The 7200 out of the box have all the filtering that I would ever need and I am picky...  The DSP is in the intermediate frequency, so it's very effeective.  The ability to vary the received bandwidth from 8,00 donwn to 50 Hz is significant.  It had the best sounding general coverage recevier I've listened to,including the legendary Grundig 800 Satellit.   The audio on shortwave broadcast was superb.

The USB direct connection (no interface unit required) is absolutely the best way to go for digital.

I specialize in CW, which is why Went with the Elecraft rig, but the 7200 is what I recommend to someone looking for an HF rig in general. The problem that I found with do-all rigs is thatunless you're spending a LOT of money, the prefomance is generally a little bit lacking.  Not a lot, mind you.  I loved my old 857 and 706, but when I'd listen on VHF using the 756 right next to them - I'd literally have easy copy of VHF repeated which were just barely discernable on the 857 and 706 on the same antenna. 

Yup - and the 7200 is built almost mil-spec tough.  Very very well made, milled chasis and etc.  You could probably fight your way out of a bar with it. 


>de RadioRay ..._ ._

That 7200 is an excellent rig!  It's what I had installed on the sailboat and YES I know about 'type acceptance' for radios & would NEVER voilate these really important rules from 1928...  but it worked very very well... We needed money when we moved ashore (some things never change...) so I sold it.  :'(  I think that I bought a toaster, or a poodle grooming kit.  Nothing quite as useful and cool as an HF transceiver - that's for sure...   ( ha ha )


>RadioRay ..._ ._

That's thrifty, because in an economic collapse, you might not be able to import any DITS.  Since you make your own DAHS, your plan to cut them down 3 to 1 as DITS makes perfect sense!

::)


Self-sufficiency is a GOOD thing.



>RadioRay ..._ ._

"Yes, this one gets about 30 dits per press of the paddle,then it runs out of steam."

How do you re-fill them with DITS?

Back when I was a young, tough, survival savvy fellow, my emergency planning revolved around two words: "Bye-Bye".  In short, I lived right on the edge of wild country and with my training and experience, I could take the walk into the wilderness and have a much better than average chance to survive 'out there' while the rest of the world burned.  I used to spend weeeks at a time out there, and that's a good start, considering that I had to scrounge most of my food and build my own shelters. Later in life, I still had knowledge, but my body began to fail, so I took-up long range sailing and my boat was my survival retreat...  Long story short; 'life happened' and now I'm living on dry-land & married, so honestly,  my odds of going 'survival-walk-about' using wilderness skills here in the dangerously overpopulated south/east is basically close to zero and my once Viking body now looks more like rusting hulk of a 1956 muscle-car of years gone-by. So - what's the plan now?

Mini-Farming!  Living with dirt under me for the first time in almost a decade, it's actually rather cool and has great potential.  My wife and I live on a remote, rural peninsula, among farms, woods and lots of open water.  We've begun to grow our garden (building-up some rather poor soil through composting), have a few laying hens for eggs and are ordering perrenial food plants like fruit, nuts and etc.  I'm too old for the 'running & gunning' "Rawles" survival novel scenario, though I still have a few good fights left in me - if provoked. However, the up side is that I do have a broad smile when I walk past the egg cartons in the market, knowing that we haven't bought any since August, because my four hens keep us in about 18 eggs per week, or the veggies, since tomatoes, peppers and others are also grown in our fenced, raised bed garden.  Next on the agenda is enhancing the soil through compost and fish meal,  perhaps a milking goat or two (still researching that), because I used to make goat cheese when I lived in Idaho, using locally available goat's milk and herbs. In short:  food storage is ONLY good for acting as a buffer until you can develop other methods to feed yourself, such as a combination of self-sufficiency, barter and work as available. If you can produce even HALF of your food, then you can feed yourself twice as well or twice as long.

So - how about this forum?  Anyone doing or planning: home growing, mini-farming, MAXI-farming?  fishing, hunting, cannibalism?  If so, what sort of crops, plants, fish,     ::) people  ::) do you think you're interested in eating?



>de RadioRay ..._ ._

Hey Radio Preppers,

Just in general, how many of us would like to have a regular sked in CW?  I used to have regular skeds and it really makes for a good development of CW skills as well as being more fun than random contacts(though some of those are excellent). By 'sked' I am not meaning a formal net.  Just an opportunity to talk one-on-one or maybe three or so in a round-table.


Your thoughts?


>RadioRay ..._ ._
W7ASA - Virginia

Nets:   Social Nets are good, regional 'Let's Talk' kind of radio-watering holes and can be very enjoyable and useful.  On the surface, it's just a bunch of old guys (not like ME, ofcourse...;)  on the radio.  However, here's an example:

When I lived in the rugged mountains of Idaho, my group of friends and I used the 'Noontime Net' from California on 40 meters as our dailiy contact point.  Remember, we lived in exceptionally rough terrain and VHF repeaters - while good- simply could not cover it, so we all used HF - even mobile.  The Noontime Net served as our 'who's still alive' bulletin board, or 'Mike said to meet him now on 60 meters.  You're too close on forty.'.  would be a common relayed message between us.  Also, when things WOULD go 'BANG!, this net was probably the best place to hear - first hand- what is actually happening in the region.  The news media will put a happy face on real disaster, but  hams are often seeing it first hand. So, information and relays - two good uses for nets. 

Second: The Maritime Mobile Service Network (14300USB) is my #1 place to go to in a large emergency.  They handle real emergency traffic often enough that it's done well.  They cover half the globe, yet keep it light and VERY friendly.  IT's main purpose is to support mariner's and deployed service personnel, but they are open for everybody - really. I have used them for emergency traffic and to hail the Coast Guard for an emergency in the Caribbean , where a large, foreign fishing boat without the expensive GMDSS (digital emergency) equipment could not raise any help.  I relayed from him on marine HF through MMSN who called Coast Guard on the phone and we eventually got help to the fellow.  Once informed, those Coasties moved FAST!  A Helo was on scene just after dark (night vision/FLIR) & cutter Matompkin making 26 knots to the scene: wow! That net for relays and to lend a hand - priceless.

Then there was that time in Borneo....... Ahhhhh-yessss .........    ::)



>de RadioRay ..._ ._


Ps. There are those nets who WASTE time with an actual roll call...
AA1AA..........AA1AA...... NOPE
AA1AB..........AA1AB.......NOPE
...    ZZZZzz!

I love a bug.  Sure and they're not as "efficient" as a set of paddles with electronic keyer, they can 'get away' from use a bit and it's not perfect, computer generated code, but who cares?  My voice is not like the voice synthesizers that corporations use to keep their customers away frm the owners of the business...  In short - each bug has a slightly different feel, sound and 'texture'.  As long as I am sending from my own bench, I use a bug or a straight key, which is funny because I love miniature QRP rigs...  somehow having a key that weighs two or three times more than the transceiver is funny to me...

And if there is a Queen of Morse, it would have to be DA, from the coastal station KSM/KPH.  This is using a bug with real 'flair and doing it with inch and a half polished nails.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYhrSEERvbI&feature=colike

ZUT (Morse Forever!)


de RadioRay ..._ ._

"I mean, you've got this little yellow "newbie" thing beside your screen name, as do I.  How come YOU can see the good stuff and I can't? Hmm??"

- - Mine is GOLD - no reeeeeeally!     ;D  (moo-ha-ha-ha)

"at least tell me that the looser ones have ham radio licenses "
- - Well, I always recommend to never date a girl who isn't a decent dancer, or can't send decent code. The rest of her I prefer to be indecent.  A man has to have standards.

"and that the smoother liquors are stashed away on rare DX islands..."
- -  I HIGHLY recommend Nassau Royale, though Nassau is not rare DX, it's certainly some very good and smooth hootch.  That's a sailor's delight: helping the sun to sun , while at anchor..."


Well, time to go tap some code.  I like the way that thirty meters sounds about sundown. 
Then again, maybe I can talk with some of the radio ops at the old maritime shore station: KPH.  They run on ham frequencies on weekends and Wednesday nights 050 up from the bottom of 80, 40, 20 & 15 meters. It's a nice opportunity to slide the weight back on the Vibroplex.

73 de RadioRay ..._ ._

I enjoyed the video though it's giving me a severe case of KX-3 mania... MAN I keep drooling over those rigs.  My K2 is superb - but, the KX-3 just does so much in a very small package.  Good intro to CW, BTW.


73 de RadioRay ..._ ._


Ps. Agreed:  His board: his rules.  Quite frankly, the reason that I am here rather than other places is because it's such an active, yet well administered board - that and all the free booze & loose women...   :P

Since the logbooks are no longer required, I generally only keep a short term 'log' type entry of my contacts, having made a short QSO log that I print onto scrap paper to keep notes during the chat.  In my case, I do not pursue awards, but if I did, logging is absolutely essential to receive an award.  There are OTHER reasons why logging software may enhance the hobby aspect as well.

There are times when I wish that I had logged all contacts, especially when someone in particular proved to be a nice fellow to chat with. I'll rarely remember a callsign from a week ago, much less a month ago, but it IS nice to be able to quickly call-up previous contacts and have notes like: 'collects old Vibroplex bugs, builds QRP, lived in Colorado for 15 years as aerospace engineer...  ' because it allows you to pick-up on the previous conversation, rather than to start from scratch.  Of course, that's for me, because I enjoy a few long conversations, rather than a large number of contacts, though that is also a popular aspect of hamming for many people.

Post TEOTWAWKI there might be only ONE award:   W.A.S.  (Worked All Survivors)     ::)


73 de RadioRay ..._ ._

$1,700 - 25,000  Manpack Radio // 20-50 Watt, depending upon type//
$ 200 +                2x Batteries
$300 +               Solar panel or hand crank  generator
                         Antenna kit (wire prefered)

$280 - $1000  +  Laptop/message terminal
$80 - 120           interface unit & cables
$200                 2x batteries
//recharge using the same as the manpack radio//

Large rucksack to carry it all (>25+ pounds ???) in ADDITION to your already full rucksack (>40+ pounds) , of 'camping' gear.
and muscles & endurance like a Green Beret, because this stuff is HEAVY!

Kinda like this - -



Ps. He is SMILING because he has a TRUCK to carry it all...
-or-

Learn a skill: Morse code, in this case, and carry a multi-band "QRP" ham radio, the size of a paper back book //also can listen to shortwave radio with it...//, in an accessory bag the size & weight of a small shave kit...



Which contains not only your transceiver, but also your antenna kit, spare AA batteries.  Your messaging unit is between your ears and you can write down the received messages if you need a hard copy...

So, my advice to ANYONE wanting radio communication further than the range of a handi-talkie is to learn the Morse code (the G4FON 'Koch' FREEware is excellent as are MANY on-line Morse tutors.)  Gil knows the latest websites to learn the code. By learning a skill, you operate VERY efficently, inexpensively and in an effective manner.  You can take your Morse radios along with along WITH your daily 'carry' rather than instead of being able to carry anything else.

OTOH - if you hae a LOT of money and muscles like a Green Beret, then please contact ME and I will act as your communications sales agent, set you up with excellent, mil-spec gear that is going to not require you to learn much of anything and -naturally- it is going to be EXPENSIVE, heavy and I will CERTAINLY take my VERY generous commission...    ;D  Thank you KINDLY!

I remember a certain fellow who was doing a cross border operation long ago...

Speaking of his VERY expensive, state-of-the-art, military communications equipment, here is the gist:

'This stuff was amazing, the message terminal was about the size of a paper back book, could send and receive text, maps, pictures and even operator drawn illustrations. It hooked into our manpack radio and sent it's transmissions as a high speed burst.  It did everything - except actually WORK!  We finally dropped back to plan B and made contact with base in a neutral country, using enciphered Morse without any problem. Sooner or later, you find yourself on the side of a hill, with the stub of a pencil, pounding it out in Morse code.'


Lighten your load - use skill not money.


QSL:  "Go Small - Go Now!"

>RadioRay ..._ ._