Friday, December 31, 2010

ARRL rolled back the clock on your member benefits but not staff size

ARRL trumpeted the addition of the online archive of the complimentary bird cage liner known as QST. Every now and then there is something worthwhile, although even the ads are out of date before it reaches you.

An eham.net review heralded the change.

Now, ARRL taketh away after two years:

Diamond Club members at the Brass level and above (contributing $250 a year or more) enjoy access to the complete QST on-line archive, including the most recent four years of the archive, not available to other ARRL members.

That's besides the $39 dollars or less that kept a more frugal, Connecticut Yankee run ARRL going from December, 1915 until about 1995 !

Were these Midwestern staff the Connecticut Old Timers hired during the 1970s from Grosse Pointe or what ?

See, what happened is they were given hundreds of thousands in federal DHS grants through the Corporation for National Service (CNCS) and private ones through United Technologies Corporation (UTC) to formalize the communications backup that hams have done for 75 years.

The staff lived free off those grants from an unlikely indirect patron for that Democrat top-heavy org, George W. Bush.

So now they're choking and need to secure their pensions between the grants evaporating so that Obama can take a $1.74 million vacation in Hawaii where he has We Are Change Members beat up by local police who then pretend to apologize after after damage was done.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

WWVB and Radio Controlled Clocks: Social engineering ?

I've been watching the reviews and comments on atomic clocks for a number of years and from the user end there is a distinct pattern.

All of a sudden, people across the country will report the stoppage of the self-setting of their clocks, or it will be come very spotty.

Then, the buying starts. You'll see the reviews pop up on the different sites. Even if they don't reference this, as someone with reliable clocks from a few brands, it's obvious.

When this occurs, WWVB becomes rock solid for months until this cycle starts anew. Do the people whose clocks "broke" ever go back and compare them to be sure they did break, reset them or pop the batteries out ?

Is this one of two MIC stunts ?

1. A social engineering experiment to see if this part of the MIC can control people's buying habits. Does the consumer wait patiently or jump the shark.

2. A simple MIC stunt to get you to keep the clock companies in business by buying new clocks thinking yours are broken, or that newer ones will be better. This of course is the measurement of how useful WWV and its employees are, especially after Congress threatened cuts to WWVB a few years ago given NTP and GPS.

For the number of engineers that have told me that the WWVB signal is not impacted by lightning or solar activity, it is clear that there is some issue here because these lapses, seen by virtually everyone at once, are almost never (99 percent) the result of posted outages.

I'm going to listen to an independent engineer before someone beholden to tax money. I like to use WWVB and WWV, but if games are being played, it's just more of the same "gimme grants" bologna.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Thursday, December 16, 2010

How many new radios did you buy in the last 30 years, Mr Millionaire Democrat ?

K1ZZ just had to get a snipe in at incoming Republican chair of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, Greg Walden, W7EQI :

ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, was pleased to hear the news: “We’re delighted that the subcommittee is in the hands of such a well-qualified chairman. Greg was an early cosponsor of HR2160, and while he may not always be able to agree with every ARRL position, we know his door will always be open to us.”

That's because every ARRL position is now dictated by the Democrats' "gimme gimme," "dumb-down" and "the Constitution is a rag" agendas.

Hey Dave ! Why don't you stop hiring Midwestern DNC shills for your jobs program ?

I'm so sick of you hiring Midwesterners like yourself that I wish the state of Michigan would secede if you're what's there. That's where you're taking your fat Connecticut adjusted ARRL salary like the rest of the salaried staff after you retire, isn't it ?

Those poor exiled ARRL staffers and officers. They couldn't get jobs where they were from because instead of getting a 20 WPM Extra and a Phi Beta Kappa key, they were too busy working DX and contesting.

It's the Revenge of the Radio Geeks. They turned ARRL into a works program for nerds who were too busy contesting in high school.

Will you be a real traitor to America and move to Canada and prepare for the "end times" like so many post 9/11 millionaire hams buying huge tracts in the woods or another country and disguising them as contest stations ?

It's just another discriminatory WASP Democrat.

And where's my November QST ? By my count they sent three, or lied three times. I have received zero. If you'd stop hiring every apartment dwelling Midwestern contester who needs a job, they'd stay at ARRL longer and QST could be replaced if it's late for whatever reason including renewal as it used to be until last year, in a week or two.

The biggest mistake the Connecticut Yankees made was being open minded in the 1970s and hiring you people to drive the hobby into the ground for your corporate and government handlers. Many of you went on to work for them directly... after 9/11 they should have told their catatonic bosses in the intelligence community what ham radio was instead of letting them turn it into busy work they knew was a lie.

Capice, Dave ? Maybe you don't even know. Maybe you do.

So what was that federal motor pool registered van doing there day after day and week after week ? The one the staff pretended to not know was parked there ?

"Gee, what van ?"

Which way did the Zamboni go ? I'm the driver.

Yessir, the old Yankees hired anyone without regard to race, ethnicity or religion and you hire WASP contester Democrats from the Midwest for every post you create.

Rep. Walden should have tweeted "now the ARRL can act in a non-partisan way instead of being the Democrat standard bearer for a hobby that's supposed to be non-partisan."

I once was told by a Connecticut ham that Dave did more than he or I would ever know. Yes, all that shoveling to dig a hole for ham radio was exhausting, first by hanging on to an antiquated 20 WPM code test until anyone my age in 1987 to 1991 was safely repulsed by the hobby.

Then he finished it off by encouraging DSP based garbage products he didn't buy for ten years into the process until they were marginally improved. Next after trashing the license structure and blaming the nasty FCC, he encouraged $5,000 to $10,000 dollar radios to be the new barrier to entry, along with the ARRL do-nothing about tower fights mantra. All the while he performed the typical distraction tactics of NGOs and government, such as hand wringing over antennas at condominiums even as the ARRL let private home owners hang.

I thought all you Democrats like Catholic, disabled / maimed Italians' votes for your Constitution shredding Globalist candidates... and that's for playing games with QST.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Solar Alchemy: How to make a mystery Solar Cycle into taxpayer money


Spaceweather.com is what the Weather Channel is to weather. Couple that with the majority of news being NASA regurgitation, from an agency where job security is determined by grant writing and trips to Congress looking for grants.

Spaceweather.com hyper ventilates over nothing to make you read it, if you're ill informed:

The sun is in the midst of an extremely active period of its 11-year solar weather cycle after a long lull in activity.

This latest solar filament follows on the heels of a similar prominent sun eruption last month. That earlier solar filament was spotted on Nov. 16 and stretched across just over 372,800 miles (600,000 km), making it a shorter than the new filament spotted today.

Last month ! At the height of Cycle 23 (we're now in 24) those words would be "every day" if not "several hours ago." The distances they speak of might seem large, but we're talking infinity, here. Yawn.

The facts remain the same:


:Product: Geophysical Alert Message wwv.txt
:Issued: 2010 Dec 08 0305 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
#
# Geophysical Alert Message
#
Solar-terrestrial indices for 07 December follow.
Solar flux 87 and mid-latitude A-index 3.
The mid-latitude K-index at 0300 UTC on 08 December was 1 (9 nT).

No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours.

No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours.

In the immortal words of Yukon Cornelius: "Nothing !"

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Constructing an International Incident through Ham Radio

Is it worth it to construct an International Incident for ARRL awards that count Reefs as DXCC "countries" so that the awards never can be completed ? Of course the goal is to keep staff employed in a sucker's game. That wasn't how DXCC started but it's what the Midwest cabal hired by the old Yankees turned DXCC into. Every other award has an end such as CQ'S WAZ, but ARRL morphed DXCC into a money pit by inventing countries you need a scaffold above ocean water to operate from. Are diplomats, past gunfire and death not telling the ARRL wimps that enough is enough ? We aren't talking tough guys when we're talking ARRL. Strange that they'd send amateurs into harm's way.

It almost makes you wonder if ARRL is also under someone's control after they recruited radio operators by the thousands in WWII, and no doubt gave certain agencies the names of young people who passed high speed code tests throughout the Cold War. God protect you if you then excelled in history, political science and in international relations. At least admit it.

Back to past and current events. Every time there is a DXpedition scheduled to Spratly Islands, the Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos get itchy trigger fingers.

Witness this from March 1979:

Upon arrival at Amboyna Cay, on the morning of April 1, while sitting about one mile off the coast, we are fired upon by the inhabitants of Amboyna Cay. Four blasts reverberated from a gun placement in the center of the island. Luckily missed. We headed back to Brunei. Once back in Brunei, N4WW headed home... KP2A (VS5KV) & N2OO (VS5OO) decided to stay in Brunei and operate from there, and provide communications to the Banyandah during their second attempt. K4SMX, K1MM and VK2BJL headed back out to try to find an uninhabited island in the Spratly's to operate from. 1S1DX eventually came on the air for about 70 hours, making over 13,000 QSO's from Barque Canada Reef; a 30 foot wide sand cay.

In the fall, a trip there was quietly scrubbed... even as Hillary Clinton herself became involved:

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - China and the Southeast Asian nations disputing ownership of the Spratlys islands need to turn their 2002 accord into a legally binding code to prevent clashes and keep the vast region open to commerce, the U.S. ambassador said Monday...

Beijing angrily reacted after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an ASEAN regional security forum in Vietnam in July that the peaceful resolution of disputes over the Spratly and Paracel island groups was in the American national interest.

Beijing said Washington was interfering in an Asian regional issue.

The conflicting claims have occasionally erupted into armed confrontation. Chinese forces seized the western Paracel Islands from Vietnam in 1974 and sank three Vietnamese naval vessels in a 1988 sea battle.

Why ?

Although largely uninhabited, the areas are believed to be sitting atop vast reserves of oil and natural gas. They straddle busy sea lanes and are rich fishing grounds.

The trip was rescheduled for 6 January 2011.

And what do we see once again ?

This:

China sends patrol vessel to disputed waters
Nov 16 07:54 AM US/Eastern
China has sent a helicopter-equipped fisheries vessel to patrol the disputed East China Sea, state media reported Tuesday, just as the two sides appeared to be cooling sharp tensions over the area.

The fisheries patrol vessel is China's first to be equipped with helicopters, and left the southern city of Guangzhou for the East China Sea for a mission that could last 20 days, Xinhua news agency said.

China has sent vessels to the area on previous occasions, state media reported, amid a row with Japan over a shipping collision that severely tested what had been a marked thaw in relations between the regional rivals.

Japan arrested a Chinese trawler captain in disputed waters after his vessel collided with Japanese coastguard ships in early September. He was eventually released.

But the incident sparked a series of protests and snubs from Beijing and Japanese accusations that China was taking retaliatory economic measures.

China has insisted that it is within its right to send the fisheries patrol vessels to the area.

The latest ship, the 2,580-tonnage "Yuzheng 310", is not China's largest fisheries patrol vessel but is "the fastest and had the most sophisticated technologies," Xinhua quoted an official as saying.

Separately, Li Jianhua, director of the ministry's fisheries bureau, was quoted calling the ship "a milestone for China's marine law enforcement patrol work, as the vessel can combine air and surface surveillance."...

Hu promised China was committed to being a good neighbour, as concerns rise over its assertive behaviour in the Asia-Pacific.

That development can be good or bad as civilian forces are once again replaced with military. Furthermore you're dealing with a country where there isn't as much of a distinction as (there used to be) in the U.S.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Back to ham radio for a minute: Wouxun right price, bad audio

OK, over and over I'm hearing these Wouxun radios. In fact, I know when I hear one because the audio is unique. They have a good deal going as far as pricing, but reports of hot, hot, hot chargers and that high quality (not) audio are worrying me.

Cover your mouth and see what I mean. They do seem to have an audience with newer hams so I hope it isn't operator error of the exact manner I just described...

Back to ham radio for a minute: Explore the fun of Morse Code in a way that's sure to send you back to your microphone

I usually don't rank on MFJ because I've had few issues... a clock that lost a digit after a year and two dead Ameritron switches that might have been weather induced over time or whatever gremlins don't respect property laws here. Then, I don't buy that much from MFJ itself. This caught my attention to mess with though:

Morse Code Key
Explore the fun of Morse code with our disposable key ! This Morse code straight key includes an adjustment for tension and an adjustment for gap size and an easy throwing weight for fun shots to the trash pail. The base includes mounting holes you'll never use because you'll discover Nye Viking right about the time you actually send Morse on the air. When you do, you'll be thrilled to enter the wonderful world of the many iambic paddles or genuine Vibroplex bug. You'll use your quality Nye key once a year on New Year's Eve (subject to your dating status) and this ARRL key will be safely in the bin under your radio desk !

Also available: ARRL Morse Code Oscillator Kit with lame integrated bar key that ruins it's future use. Put your key to use with this basic electronics project, learn the Morse code, and then wish we had included binding posts instead of a push button !

Monday, October 04, 2010

N1MM Logger... was this so hard to answer ?

I'm not the one writing this app so it would seem that although you get what you pay for and it's very good, they pick and choose what they care to address.

Now my resolution is 1680 by 1050 native but there is no way I'm having my eyes pulled out of their sockets by that tiny resolution. If America isn't using the 125 percent magnification, no wonder it gets out of work and is apt to kill you by running you off the highway driving home after enduring eye strain all day.

For a year or so I asked what the issue was with the Grayline map looking like this and it was like talking to a wall. I tried lots of stuff including trying to edit the image until tonight another ham told me that he installed it on Windows 7 64 bit Professional, and I once again thought what might be different. Now, all the other apps are fine with the magnification. Sorry to say that the one coded by professionals is the one that has choked.

I set the magnification back to 100 percent... and it was fine. That's not normal. That's a compatibility error and given the advanced age of most hams I'd have expected better help in figuring this out. That is, unless the same contesters don't know the difference because they're running Win XP SP1 with no antivirus and no firewall on a 1 GHz or higher Celeron and with their wireless router blowing in the breeze.

Or, they too run you off the road at 4 PM and wouldn't know the difference if they were squinting anyway.

Theory three is that they wouldn't know how to change the resolution even if they did retire from Lockheed.

I now assume that the issue will still be ignored.

As I said, MMTTY, MMSSTV, MMVARI, DX4WIN, CC USER, WINLOG32, DXLAB, HAM RADIO DELUXE, UI-VIEW 32 (that hasn't been updated in years due to the code being gone with the death of the author)... none have balked at being made readable like N1MM Logger did.

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Cape Cod whiner hams

Heard a local low code Extra and 20 year USAF retiree currently employed by same declare that he and his working wife who live in a ranch at age 59 are finding money tight.

USAF pension coming... a small house... and two salaries totaling over $100,000. And the pensions they'll get from those too.

Give me a break. Maybe if he didn't have a $1000 mountain bike seen on QRZ for starters, he'd have more money.

Try being maimed by the filthy government I trusted and studied until age 24, with a dead father, no income, four years of college flushed down the toilet, and then being harassed by the government after they maimed you knowing it would happen, with other sick relatives... shut the hell up you whiners.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

ARISSat-1: Transponders that don't transpond ?

Time after time after many thousands of amateurs worldwide equipped themselves for amateur satellites, we are subjected to the spectacle of a university, a government or both using the ham bands for a satellite that transmits only for their benefit. The ARRL and AMSAT have even taken to saying these are transponders. These are not transponders. They are looped transmitters.

From ARRL:

ARISSat-1/RadioSkaf V will have simultaneous 2-meter FM, CW, BPSK and transponder transmissions. These multiple transmissions are created by a new software-defined transponder (SDX) board. The FM transmissions will cycle between a voice ID, select telemetry values, 24 international greeting messages in 15 languages and live SSTV images. The CW transmissons will be callsign ID, select telemetry, and callsigns of people actively involved with the ARISS program. The BPSK transmissions will feature a new 1kBPSK protocol developed by Phil Karn, KA9Q, to be readable in low signal level conditions. The BPSK data will alternate betwen telemetry and Kursk experiment data. Free groundstation soundcard demodulator and display software will be available before launch for multiple platforms. There also is a 16 kHz wide Mode U/V (UHF uplink - VHF downlink) transponder between the BPSK and FM signals.

From the "Webster" Dictionary (who was Miriam to usurp Noah anyway ?):

tran·spon·der
noun \tran(t)-ˈspän-dər\
Definition of TRANSPONDER
: a radio or radar set that upon receiving a designated signal emits a radio signal of its own and that is used especially for the detection, identification, and location of objects and in satellites for relaying communications signals
Origin of TRANSPONDER
transmitter + responder
First Known Use: circa 1944

From Wisegeek:

A transponder is an electronic device used to wirelessly receive and transmit electrical signals. Fittingly, its name is equally derived from the words "transmitter" and "responder".

From Wikipedia:

In telecommunication, the term transponder (short-for Transmitter-responder and sometimes abbreviated to XPDR[1], XPNDR[2], TPDR[3] or TP[4]) has the following meanings:

They have made available ONE ... ONE ... bizarrely configured transponder:

There also is a 16 kHz wide Mode U/V (UHF uplink - VHF downlink) transponder between the BPSK and FM signals.

And, the rapidity with which this bird was built is nothing short of disgusting with the anguish that we are put through waiting for a replacement to AO-40 which was used by a government for target practice right before the Chinese openly fired a weapon at a test satellite and destroyed it.

Monday, September 27, 2010

CFLs produce 15 to 20 times EMF field of safety proven incandsecents

CFL light bulbs are a win win. By closing incandescent factories, the companies that make bulbs are able to offshore production to China to new factories. If the health effects of the CFL shown here were to cause a public uproar, any new incandescent factories would then be opened in China as well due to labor costs.



See also this report from CBC Montreal among many others on YouTube.