[handiham-world] Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for the week of Wednesday, 13 August 2014
- From: <Patrick.Tice@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <handiham-world@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 11:37:38 -0500
Logo for Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, part of Allina Health
Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for
the week of Wednesday, 13 August 2014
This is a free weekly news & information update from <http://handiham.org>
Courage Kenny Handiham System. Our contact information is at the end.
Listen here:
<http://handiham.org/audio/handiham13AUG2014.mp3>
http://handiham.org/audio/handiham13AUG2014.mp3
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_____
Welcome to Handiham World.
Radio Camp begins late this week!
Keying the rig with a Bencher paddle.
Image: Keying the TS-590S with a Bencher paddle.
This week we have a short edition of Handiham World due to our busy schedule
during the run up to 2014 Radio Camp. Campers will arrive this coming
Saturday, August 16, and camp will continue through the week, with our VE
session on Friday and campers departing on Saturday, August 23. During
Radio Camp we will try to make as many contacts on HF and through the camp
repeater, W0EQO-R, as possible. W0EQO-R is connected to the Handiham
conference at node 494492, or *HANDIHAM*. We will also be on IRLP 9008. We
hope to help our campers get some VHF net control experience as well as some
quality time on the HF bands. Many Handiham members have limited space or
no space at all for HF antennas, so operating at camp with some efficient
wire antennas set up Field Day style will be quite a treat. We also have a
triband beam on a 50 foot tower.
Camp week is really a busy time for us, and I know from experience that no
matter how much I try to make time for a weekly e-letter, I just will not
have time to get it done. So beginning next week, the e-letter is taking
two weeks off. It will return the first week of September, then take the
second week in September off. The e-letter sounds like kind of a slacker
with all that time off, but remember that we publish most weeks, month after
month, with very few breaks. Camp takes so many hours of preparation and
time during camp week that these breaks are necessary to balance things out.
Bill Jones, N0CIC, on his ATV.
Image: Bill Jones, N0CIC, on his ATV. Bill is talking on his HT, which
works great all around the camp property, thanks to repeater W0EQO, set up
by Don Rice, N0BVE.
How could we ever make camp happen without volunteers like Bill and Don? It
just wouldn't be possible! Our volunteers make the Handiham Radio Camp and
the entire Handiham program work. Since our founding in 1967, we have
always been a mostly volunteer program. Bill helps us all week at camp,
doing tech support for radios and antennas, captaining the pontoon boat with
the IC-718 HF station aboard and helping us with Operating Skills. He even
arrives ahead of time with several other volunteers to help us with camp
setup. Since he lives "up north" as we say here in Minnesota, Bill is close
to Camp Courage North and assists us in maintaining our remote base HF
station there.
W0OXB climbs a tree to tie off a wire antenna.
Image: In this photo, we see Dave Glas, W0OXB, climbing a tree to tie off
the wire antenna at the W0ZSW remote base station.
Dave is one of the crew members who volunteer just before camp to get setup
done. Behind the scenes, well in advance of the camp session, Dave is
carefully testing the equipment we will use at camp, putting all of the
radios on the air and then packing them carefully in the containers that
will be used to transport the delicate radios to and from Camp Courage.
Complete station packed for transport in portable food cooler.
Image: Here we see a red food cooler, the kind you take to picnics, packed
with something even better than lunch: a complete Kenwood TS-570 HF station
that includes a dipole antenna, an MFJ antenna tuner, a switching power
supply, microphone, and connecting cables. These food cooler containers
were Dave's idea, and they have really worked well to protect the station
equipment and make it easy to organize. Several of our food cooler stations
have wheels so that they can be rolled to the location and then deployed by
one person if necessary. Since the coolers are waterproof, they help to
keep moisture at bay during storage. We recommend this idea for Field Day
equipment, special event stations, and even for an HF go-kit.
Thank you, volunteers!
For Handiham World, I'm...
Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Kenny Handiham Coordinator
_____
Bulletins
Home Run for Ham Radio in Public Radio Program "It's Only a Game":
The Public Radio sports program "It's Only a Game" recently ran a segment
about Amateur Radio as they reported on the World Radiosport Team
Championship. I'm a public radio fan since ever, and this is about the only
sports program I listen to. It's produced by WBUR in Boston, and since the
games were held in Massachusetts last month, covering them was a natural!
Head for the WBUR website and read about the program, then listen to the
nine minute audio segment.
<http://onlyagame.wbur.org/2014/08/09/wrtc-radiosport-ham-radio> One
cringe-worthy moment: At the end of the segment the announcer talks about
ham radio being an "antiquated" communications medium. I sure wish they
wouldn't do that, because:
a: It isn't, and...
b: Just because a technology has been around a long time does not make it
out of date. Plumbing has been around quite a while and it still works
pretty well. Just because ancient Rome had plumbing doesn't mean that my
kitchen sink needs to be replaced.
Just sayin'.
Thanks to QRZ.com <http://www.qrz.com/> for alerting us to this story.
Handiham Radio Camp is Saturday! Repeater Frequencies in the Area: An open
letter from WA0TDA
World with tower cartoon
Hello, Fellow Radio Campers!
Handiham Radio Camp begins this coming Saturday, August 16. I hope you are
feeling as excited about the week of ham radio fun as I am!
We are planning several HF stations and a VHF/UHF FM station or two, but it
would still be wise to pack your handheld radio if you have one. We have a
camp repeater, W0EQO-R, on 145.47 FM, negative offset with a tone of 114.8
Hz (Camp Courage, Maple Lake MN). You will be able to easily use the
repeater with your HT, and since the repeater is connected to the N0BVE
system via Echolink, the entire connected system will be at your fingertips.
On Wednesday we will have our Public Service Exercise, and you will need
your HT for that. If you don't have one, don't worry - you will be part of
a small group and the group will have a radio.
If you are flying in to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, we
even have a repeater at the airport. It is also connected to the N0BVE
system, so you can be heard on Echolink and on the camp repeater, right from
the airport. The frequency is 444.325 MHz with 131.8 Hz tone - MSP
International Airport - perfect for travelers!
Here is a summary of repeaters in the area that are connected to the
HANDIHAM conference:
Where to find us:
Twin Cities: All of these are Echolink connected at all times.
145.45 FM, negative offset with no tone
145.47 FM, negative offset with a tone of 114.8 Hz (Camp Courage, Maple Lake
MN)
444.65 MHz with 114.8 Hz tone. (Heard more easily in the Eastern Twin
Cities.)
444.325 MHz with 131.8 Hz tone - MSP International Airport - perfect for
travelers!
443.000 MHz with tone 100 Hz, KA0KMJ-R, Chaska, MN (Southwest Metro)
223.94 negative offset, Tone 100 Hz - KA0PQW (link) Arden Hills, MN
We are looking forward to seeing you at Camp Courage. Have a wonderful
week.
September QST is on line for ARRL members
The September 2014 edition of QST is out for ARRL members. We will record
our usual digest for our blind members. ARRL members should visit the QST
link at www.arrl.org for the regular on line version that includes extra
content like a video message from ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN.
2014 Radio Camp (Saturday, August 16 through Saturday August 23, 2014)
We look forward to making contacts from Camp Courage, so listen for Radio
Camp on the air. Last Friday's K7RA propagation forecast looks pretty good
for the first part of the week. We'll see how it changes when this Friday's
forecast comes out.
Camp Courage repeater W0EQO-R is at our Radio Camp and is on 145.47 FM,
negative offset with a tone of 114.8 Hz (Camp Courage, Maple Lake MN).
The annual Radio Camp emergency communications exercise planned by ARRL EMA
Section Manager Phil Temples, K9HI, will take place at Camp Courage on
Wednesday, August 20. We will participate in a simulation exercise that
will sharpen our communications skills, but the nature of the exercise is a
closely guarded secret. It's like real life, since we never know what will
happen in spite of our best efforts at planning. The way we handle this as
volunteer emergency communicators is to practice and be prepared so that
when the unexpected happens we will be ready to help. If the camp repeater
is used for the exercise, it will be disconnected from the Echolink system.
Found by WA0CAF:
<http://www.marcozehe.de/articles/how-to-use-nvda-and-firefox-to-test-your-w
eb-pages-for-accessibility/> Use NVDA & Firefox to test your web pages for
accessibility.
BYOB:
Dave, W0OXB, came up with that easy reminder for Radio Camp. No, it is not
"bring your own bottle", since we are not having a party. It is "bring your
own badge", a reminder to pack your VE badge if you are a volunteer examiner
and will be attending camp. It doesn't matter which VEC issued the badge as
long as it is current. You will have a chance to participate in a VE
session so that you can get credit for that, and you will get experience
helping others to get their first license or an upgrade. Dave's advice goes
for other events, too. Think of the hamfests you have attended. Most of
them offer VE testing, and sometimes the VE team leader is looking for help.
If you BYOB, you are ready to sign the session log and help out. Get in the
habit of bringing your badge.
Another good way to learn about Morse code: Your Handiham membership
qualifies you for membership in the FISTS CW Club. You must be a member
with a disability to qualify.
Thanks to our good friends at the FISTS CW Club <http://fistsna.org/> , you
can use your Handiham membership certificate to join FISTS at no extra
charge. Morse is a long-standing tradition in Amateur Radio, but it is also
a robust mode of operation with a large following, and remains the best tool
in your toolkit to collect DX contacts.
We are pleased to announce that Handiham members are welcome in the FISTS CW
Club. Simply provide the FISTS Club with proof of your Handiham membership,
which must be up to date, and you will be eligible to join FISTS without any
additional dues. Handiham members receive a membership certificate when
they join Handihams or renew their memberships, so if you are a current
Handiham member, you may provide a copy of your membership certificate to
the FISTS club and join to enjoy the benefits and fellowship of FISTS and
CW. Please note that we do not contact FISTS on your behalf due to privacy
regulations. Please contact FISTS yourself with your Handiham membership
certificate.
Contact information for FISTS North America is at
http://fistsna.org/contact.html. You may go to the contact page and locate
club president Karl, KB1DSB.
_____
Practical Radio
pliers and wire
Where can I find a copy of FCC rules pertaining to the Amateur Radio
Service?
We're glad you asked! You can find an easy to navigate copy of FCC Part 97
on the ARRL website:
http://www.arrl.org/part-97-text
This is practical radio - Take some time to remind yourself of the rules and
improve your operating practice.
_____
Handiham Nets are on the air daily.
headset
Listen for the Handiham Wednesday evening net tonight and try to answer the
N6NFF trivia question during the first half hour. Check in later just to
get in the log and say hello. The trivia question answer is revealed
shortly after the first half hour. If you are up to a challenge, see if you
can correctly answer this week's question.
We are scheduled to be on the air daily at 11:00 USA Central Time, plus
Wednesday & Thursday evenings at 19:00 USA Central Time. A big THANK YOU to
all of our net control stations!
The two evening sessions are at 00:00 GMT Thursday and Friday. Here in
Minnesota that translates to 7:00 PM Wednesday and Thursday.
_____
This week @ HQ
Cartoon robot with pencil
IRB station W0ZSW is on the air. <http://handiham.org/remotebase/> W0EQO
remains restricted due to firewall issues. We are contemplating a move of
the entire W0EQO station to a different location. A meeting was held this
week for planning purposes. Bill, N0CIC, took the lead on the meeting. Joe,
N0RF, Lyle, K0LR, and Pat, WA0TDA, participated. Topics discussed were:
. Age and condition of current station and network equipment.
. Problems with network IP address range.
. Possible action to take to repair firewall issues at current site.
. Option for moving station to alternate site.
. Acquisition of updated computer and networking equipment.
. Replacement of antennas.
Reading online? You'll find the weekly e-letter online to be mobile-friendly
if you use the following link:
https://handiham.org/local/blind/this_week.htm
Email has changed.
Our new addresses are:
. Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx
. Patrick.Tice@xxxxxxxxxx (I will be out of the office for almost
two weeks beginning this Friday. Please contact Nancy for more immediate
assistance.)
August 2014 production news:
The August NLS cartridge is late to accommodate as much new material as we
can. Some of it was released late this month, which puts us behind in our
production schedule. All audio production and delivery are late due to the
demands of Radio Camp. I apologize for the inconvenience. All cartridges
for September will be late. Those who have returned the July cartridges will
receive the August cartridge soon as the last of the ones we had are in
today's mail. Any coming in after August 12 are going to wait a couple of
weeks at least. If you are a cartridge user, PLEASE make sure that you
place the correct cartridge in the mailer! If you send us BARD cartridges
they will be returned to you and you will need to get them back to BARD as
they are government property. If you lose your cartridge, you are
responsible for the replacement.
The new Technician Lecture Series is well underway and we are up to nine
lectures. Log in to members only to take the Technician classes. Check the
new audio page in the member section often to find the latest lectures.
The new Technician 2014 - 2018 Question Pool with only correct answers has
been read by Jim Perry, KJ3P. Remember that this new pool is for all
Technician Class testing on or after July 1, 2014. It is also available in
the members section.
QCWA Journal for August is available, recorded by Jim, KJ3P. Check the
Handiham and QCWA websites for the latest.
The August 2014 QST Daisy digest by Bob, N1BLF, is ready for our members to
play on their NLS or other DAISY players.
I have started a recording project for Operating Skills, based on the ARRL
book, "Internet Linking for Radio Amateurs" by K1RFD. The goal is to make
more information on VoIP available to our blind members. Time has not
permitted updates on this for several weeks.
Jim Perry, KJ3P, Bob Zeida, N1BLF, and Ken Padgitt, W9MJY (August Doctor is
in column) do the volunteer digest recording. Thanks, guys!
Secure, blind-friendly Handiham website login:
<https://handiham.org/user#main-content>
https://handiham.org/user#main-content
. We ask that you please log in securely if you are using any kind
of a public network or unsecured wireless.
Digital Cartridges now Stocked at Handiham HQ:
Nancy now has the NLS 4GB digital cartridges and mailers available at our
cost. She says:
We now have a supply of digital Talking Book cartridges and mailers
available for purchase for our Handiham members. The total cost for a set
is $15.50. We will download any digital study materials from the Members
Only section of our website onto your cartridge at no additional cost.
Minnesota residents please add $1.13 MN Sales Tax.
Pat holding up NLS digital cartridge and mailer
_____
Stay in touch
Cartoon robot with cordless phone
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 <mailto:Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx>
Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx or call her at 612-775-2291. If you need to use the
toll-free number, call 1-866-426-3442.
Nancy Meydell, Handiham Secretary: 612-775-2291 (General information about
the Handiham program, membership renewals)
Patrick Tice, WA0TDA: 612-775-2290 (Program Coordinator, technical
questions, remote base requests, questions about licensing)
Please note that I will be out of the office for two weeks and unable to
answer the phone most days.
Mornings Monday through Thursday are the best time to contact us.
The Courage Kenny Handiham Program 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.
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
<http://handiham.org/audio/handiham.mp3> Handiham Weekly E-Letter in MP3
format
Email us to subscribe:
<mailto:Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx> Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx
That's it for this week. 73 from all of us at the Courage Kenny Handihams!
Pat, WA0TDA
Coordinator, Courage Kenny Handiham Program
Reach me by email at:
<mailto:Patrick.Tice@xxxxxxxxxx> Patrick.Tice@xxxxxxxxxx
Nancy, Handiham Secretary:
<mailto:Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx> Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx
<http://handiham.org> Courage Kenny Handiham Program
3915 Golden Valley Road
Golden Valley, MN 55422
<mailto:Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx> Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx
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!
ARRL diamond-shaped logo
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
<mailto:handiham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Patrick.Tice@xxxxxxxxxx for changes of
address, unsubscribes, etc. Include your old email address and your new
address.
<http://handiham.org> Return to Handiham.org
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