[handiham-world] Courage Center Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for the week of Wednesday, 10 October 2012
- From: Patrick Tice <wa0tda@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: handiham-world@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:40:40 -0500
*Courage Center Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for the week of Wednesday,
10 October 2012*
This is a free weekly news & information update from Courage Center
Handiham System. Our contact information is at the end, or simply email
handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for changes in subscriptions or to comment. You
can listen to this news online.
MP3 audio stream:
http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.m3u
Download the 40 kbs MP3 audio to your portable player:
http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.mp3
Get this podcast in iTunes:
<http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=372422406>
http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=372422406
RSS feed for the audio podcast if you use other podcasting software:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/handiham
------------------------------
*Welcome to Handiham World.*Handiham Office Moving
As Jose, KK4JZX, reminded me in an email this morning, change is
inevitable. He had three excellent quotes about change:
- *"Become a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain
constant."* - Anthony D'Angelo'
- *"We must learn to view change as a natural phenomenon - to anticipate
it and to plan for it. The future is ours to channel in the direction we
want to go... we must continually ask ourselves, 'What will happen if...?'
or better still, 'How can we make it happen?' " *- Lisa Taylor
- *"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy, for
what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life
before we can enter into another." *- Anatole France
Well, fasten your seat belts, because we are moving again, thanks to a big
change. The Handiham Program, originally part of Courage Center's Camping
Department, is moving back to Courage Center. Since 2009 we have been
officially "officed" (Is that even a word?) at Camp Courage near Maple
Lake, Minnesota. Our mailing address has always been at the main Courage
Center address in Golden Valley, Minnesota, and that has not changed.
However, we are moving lock, stock, and barrel out of our digs at Camp
Courage. There is a fairly short timeline for the move, because the moving
truck arrives at camp the last week in October.
This move will address ongoing problems we have had with logistics, since
Camp Courage is an hour drive west of the Twin Cities metro area. While
any move is disruptive and unsettling (that change thing, you know), it is
necessary to help us continue operating the program. In the upcoming weeks
we will be extremely busy with this project and will be unable to offer our
services at the usual level. Services affected will range from the remote
base station availability, tech support on lost or forgotten passwords,
detailed communications on technical support issues, the equipment program,
and answering the phone. Yes, even answering the phone is difficult when
you are planning for and following through with a project this big and
time-consuming. On the plus side, Nancy will be able to take most of the
regular calls and email messages during the regular hours she works. Since
Pat (that's me!) will be managing the move - which is going to mean being
away from the phone and computer for long periods of time and traveling to
and from Camp Courage (a three hour round trip for me), obviously I will
not be available. While I will try my best to stay in touch, I will likely
not have time for weekly audio lectures, and perhaps even the weekly
e-letter and podcast will see some scheduling changes.
I will know more about when services will resume sometime in November. In
the meantime, we appreciate your patience.
Email me at handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with your questions & comments.
Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Handiham Manager
------------------------------
Kudos to MFJ[image: MFJ antenna dummy load]
MFJ Enterprises celebrated their 40th anniversary October 5th and 6th
(Friday and Saturday) in Starkville, Mississippi. The event was carried
live on the W5KUB website, and darn it, I missed it because we were busy
all last weekend. This morning, when I checked the W5KUB website, I saw
that there is archived video of the event.
It did serve to remind me that MFJ has been around a long time, and when
the MFJ catalog arrived in the mail this week, I was intrigued by the huge
selection of ham radio accessories that have been added over the years.
There are things you just can't find just anywhere - things like
azimuth-elevation rotators, ceramic doorknob capacitors, air-wound coils,
ceramic insulators and other project parts, feed-through panels for antenna
cables, and the Speech Intel Enhancer for people with hearing deficits.
It's a rare ham shack that doesn't have at least some MFJ products, that's
for sure!
In any case, the annual catalog was a welcome sight in my mailbox, and it
enjoys a spot in my periodical collection, within arm's reach from the main
operating position in the radio room. Congratulations to MFJ on four
decades of providing products to the ham radio community.
------------------------------
Correspondence:
*KB3LLA located some information about accessibility extensions for the
popular web browser Firefox:*
Firefox Accessibility Extension Documentation: Overview and Installation:
http://firefox.cita.uiuc.edu/
*WB3CAI reports on the Baofeng UV-5R: *
*"My first discharge of battery with flashlight took 22 hours, but I
probably listened and transmitted a little. Now running only flashlight and
it has been 12 hours and I am hoping to get closer to 30 hours from it.
Interesting that it says it is NiMH battery and the 1800 standard battery
is Lithium Ion."*
*W2WU passed on this bit of news on an upcoming event:* The ABC show "Last
Man Standing" is shot at CBS Studio City (which is different than CBS TV
City, btw). They put together this event:
*Breaking news! The Southern California based PAPA System, will be holding
a "Ham Radio Celebrates Hollywood" event. On Sunday, October 28th PAPA
members will work HF, VHF, UHF, DSTAR and IRLP under the special event call
sign K6H. The event will be based on the sets of the ABC Television's "Last
Man Standing", and will use the show's radio equipment and antennas. The
event features the interlinked BEARS/DEARS system repeaters which will be
directly linked to the stage.*
*K0LR found an omission in the remote base keyboard shortcuts list: *
*While re-reading the Web Transceiver help file today, I found a mention of
a keyboard shortcut that is not included in the keyboard command table or
in Jose's listings. The shortcut Shift+P toggles the preamp on and off.*
*Editor's note: This has now been updated on the Remote Base website.
Thanks, Lyle!*
------------------------------
Don't miss the new Tech Net! This week is session six.
[image: TMV71A transceiver]
We have heard lots of positive comments about our new Handiham Tech Net, a
place to discuss technology related to amateur radio. The Tech Net is on
the air at 19:00 hours USA Central Time each Thursday. The regular Handiham
Radio Club Wednesday evening net is at the same 19:00 hours, just one day
earlier. Daily nets are at 11:00 hours USA Central Time. New this week is
our audio archive, so if you missed the first five sessions, you can find
them here:
*Missed the weekly on the air Handiham Tech Net? Listen to it
here!<http://handiham.org/audio/handihamtech.mp3>
*
*Missed last week's Handiham Tech Net? Go to the archive page.
<http://www.handiham.org/audio/technet/>
*
Frequency in the local Minnesota repeater coverage zone: 145.45 FM,
negative offset with no tone and 444.65 MHz with 114.8 Hz tone in the Twin
Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul Minnesota. The UHF repeater will be
heard more easily in the Eastern Twin Cities. You will find our daily net
on the air at 11:00 hours USA Central Time, with the Sunday session
featuring a special trivia question theme for a change of pace. A Wednesday
evening session at 19:00 hours USA Central Time also offers a chance to
take a guess at a trivia question and visit with your friends on the air.
Ideal for those who can't make the daily morning session! Then Thursday
evening at 19:00 hours return to the Tech net and learn something new!
*EchoLink nodes:*
HANDIHAM conference server Node 494492 (Our preferred high-capacity node.)
KA0PQW-R, node 267582
KA0PQW-L, node 538131
N0BVE-R, node 89680
*Other ways to connect:*
IRLP node 9008 (Vancouver BC reflector)
WIRES system number 1427
------------------------------
*A dip in the pool*
It's time to test our knowledge by taking a dip in the pool - the question
pool, that is!
Let's go to the General Class pool, where we take a look the venerable
station logbook:
G2D09 asks: What information is traditionally contained in a station log?
Possible answers are:
A. Date and time of contact
B. Band and/or frequency of the contact
C. Call sign of station contacted and the signal report given
D. All of these choices are correct
Any old-timer can tell you the right answer here: D, All of these choices
are correct. Modern logging software has form fields for all of this data
and more. You can still get printed log books, and they have spaces for
these essential pieces of information arranged in columns like a
spreadsheet. Most of us also like to add a few notes about the other
operator's name and location, and possibly even some notes about the
conversation. While keeping a log is no longer a requirement, it is still
a good idea to keep at least some record for purposes of documenting your
progress toward awards or just to help you recall names and callsigns when
you meet someone on the air "later on down the log", as the old saying
goes. I have to admit to being a bit lax in my logging. I no longer keep
any paper logs, but will typically make a few notes on a bit of scratch
paper or with notepad on the computer as I participate in a roundtable
session on HF. If I happen to be controlling the radio with Ham Radio
Deluxe, I make a note of the contact in the built-in logging software. If
not, well - lately I just don't have a consistent way to log the contact.
I might have to give XMLog another look - A standalone logging program
might just be the best way to stay consistent when using different rigs and
different computers, something that I have not been able to stick to with
the HRD system. If you care to take a look at the free XMLog software,
which is blind-accessible, you can find it at: www.xmlog.com. XMLog is an
amateur radio logbook system for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista,
and Windows 7.
Please e-mail handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx to comment.
------------------------------
*Remote Base health report: W0EQO is on line. W0ZSW is off line.
[image: Image of TS-480SAT courtesy Universal Radio]
W0EQO is on line, but W0ZSW is not working because the rig is not
exchanging telemetry with the control computer. We are investigating the
problem. Users will see a message: "No connection to remote." This does
not indicate a problem on your end - the fault is with the remote base
itself. So far rebooting the computer has not resolved the issue.
*
If problems show up, please email wa0tda@xxxxxxxxx
New! Keyboard commands list updated:
http://handiham.org/remotebase/w4mq-keyboard-commands/
*Solar Activity Forecast:* Solar activity is expected to be low with a
chance for an isolated M-class flare over the next three days (10-12
October).
*Geophysical Activity Forecast:* The geomagnetic field is expected to be
unsettled to active on day one (10 October), due to high speed stream
effects. Quiet to unsettled conditions are forecast on day two (11 October)
and mostly quiet levels are expected on day three (12 October).
Credit: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
*
------------------------------
This week @ HQ
*
*We are in the process of moving file storage back to our Golden Valley
location. *This is a time-intensive process and will affect my availability
for audio lectures and office hours through the end of October.
*Change in address for equipment donations: *Please contact Pat, WA0TDA,
before making any donation of equipment. My phone number is 763-520-0511
and my email address is pat.tice@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx The address is now the
same as our postal mailing address. This should simplify our contact
information.
Courage Center Handiham System
3915 Golden Valley Road
Golden Valley, MN 55422
*Equipment change: *We no longer accept antennas, except small accessory
antennas for handheld radios.
*Equipment program temporarily suspended again: *Due to our move, the
equipment program is suspended until further notice.
*The October CQ has arrived this week, thanks to reading volunteer Bob
Zeida, N1BLF. It will be available on Friday in DAISY format for our blind
members. QST and Worldradio have arrived and we have read selected articles
for our blind members. *Our blind members using NLS cartridges or 4-track
tape cassettes will receive their mailing soon. Tape users, please remember
that your tape service ends this year as we phase out the old cassette
system.
**
*Digital mailers are important! *If you do mail a digital cartridge to us,
please be sure that it is an approved free matter mailer. Otherwise it will
quickly cost us several dollars to package and mail out, which is more than
the cost of the mailer in the first place. We don't have a stock of
cartridges or mailers and not including a mailer will result in a long
delay getting your request back out to you.
DAISY audio digests are available for our blind members who do not have
computers, playable in your Library of Congress digital player. Handiham
members who use these players and who would prefer to receive a copy of the
monthly audio digests on the special Library of Congress digital cartridge
should send a blank cartridge to us in a cartridge mailer (no envelopes,
please), so that we can place the files on it and return it to you via free
matter postal mail. Your callsign should be on both the cartridge and the
mailer so that we can make sure we know who it's from. Blank cartridges and
mailers are available from APH, the American Printing House for the Blind,
Inc. <http://www.aph.org/>
Digital Talking Book Cartridge Catalog Number: 1-02610-00, Price: $12.00
Digital Talking Book Cartridge Mailer Catalog Number: 1-02611-00, Price:
$2.50
Order Toll-Free: (800) 223-1839.
The Library of Congress NLS has a list of vendors for the digital
cartridges:
http://www.loc.gov/nls/cartridges/index.html
Get it all on line as an alternative: Visit the DAISY section on the
Handiham website after logging in.
*
------------------------------
Stay in touch!
Be sure to send Nancy your changes of address, phone number changes, or
email address changes so that we can continue to stay in touch with you.
You may either email Nancy at hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or call her at
763-520-0512. If you need to use the toll-free number, call
1-866-426-3442.
Handiham Manager Patrick Tice, WA0TDA, may be reached at
handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or by phone at 763-520-0511.
Mornings Monday through Thursday are the best time to contact us.
The Courage Handiham System depends on the support of people like you, who
want to share the fun and friendship of ham radio with others. Please help
us provide services to people with disabilities. We would really appreciate
it if you would remember us in your estate plans. If you need a planning
kit, please call. If you are wondering whether a gift of stock can be given
to Handihams, the answer is yes! Please call Walt Seibert, KD0LPX, at
763-520-0532 or email him at walt.seibert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Call 1-866-426-3442 toll-free. -- Help us get new hams on the air.
Get the Handiham E-Letter by email every Wednesday, and stay up-to-date
with ham radio news.
You may listen in audio to the E-Letter at www.handiham.org.
Email us to subscribe:
hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That's it for this week. 73 from all of us at the Courage Handiham System!
Pat, WA0TDA
Manager, Courage Handiham System
Reach me by email at:
patt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Nancy, Handiham Secretary:
hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ARRL is the premier organization supporting amateur radio worldwide. Please
contact Handihams for help joining the ARRL. We will be happy to help you
fill out the paperwork!
The weekly e-letter is a compilation of software tips, operating
information, and Handiham news. It is published on Wednesdays, and is
available to everyone free of charge. Please email
handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for changes of address, unsubscribes, etc.
Include your old email address and your new address.
Courage Center Handiham System
3915 Golden Valley Road
Golden Valley, MN 55422
763-520-0512
hamradio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*
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