new thread
That thread has slid a long way down, so I'm starting a new one.
Given that we have half Extras and half Techs, maybe we could try some sort of repeater linking.
With a few watts (and a large beam, HI!!) I can hit the box in NE Washington DC on 449.975, which I know can be linked through the Internet with a bunch of repeaters in various cities in various countries. I beleive you have to send DTMF tones corresponding to a number assigned to the other repeater. I'm not sure where to find the details, but it is part of the IRLP network.
OK, I just Googled IRLP, and their home page is www.irlp.net -what a surprise! San Fancisco has node 3178 on 441.650 and node 8730 on 444.850, both using the call K6KYA, and the node in DC that I can hit on 449.975 is node 4000, WA3KOK.
Do you have access to a rig with 70cm and DTMF, Bill? The only one I have working right now on 70cm (my Yaesu FT-817) has no DTMF, but someone else could bring up the link and drop it back down, or I could replace the fan in my Kenwood 741, which has DTMF.
I'm pretty sure that N3SJL could get into the DC node if he has UHF. KK4GV is a little further away, but I know he does have UHF. They both have long hair. FWIW, N3SJL is a General, and KK4GV was an Advanced, but he may have upgraded to Extra.
Where do the rest of our long haired hams live? I would ask if they have UHF, but not all the nodes are on 70cm, some of them are on other bands, so it depends if they have the right rig for the nearest node. They needn't necessarily be in the US, but everyone who responded so far was.
Apparently, you can link more than two repeaters together at the same time, but I need to read more to find out how you do that.
73 de Alun, N3KIP
A net would be cool--i'm not sure if the technicalities would work out but how about this: Echolink? (at least for starters) It was a great day here today--sunny--I had an enjoyable run, found a place that roasts coffee on the spot and I've gotten over what happened last week (I was kind of depressed and cynical about it for a few days) so now I'm feeling like we can pull this thing off.
Dang, I need to check in with this forum more often. :-) I never knew there were so many hams here.
Anyway, I'd be interested in something like this. An Echolink confrence would work. Anyone with a ham ticket and an internet connected computer can get on. And, if you don't have a computer that can connect to echolink, you should be able to find a repeater near you that can.
Looking forward to hearing more,
WO1VES
Brian in Mass.
N3KIP DE AD6YU R --
I am a "Friend of Bill," and live 60 miles to the south of him.
Am not on 440 MHz at all--only 20M QRP CW and 2M FM SX and RPTR.
Nice idea about real-time communication, though it might be easier to do on some chat site via computer rather than via ham radio. All it would take is a sked, but because of time differences, that might be difficult. Store-and-forward, like at this site, works fine for me.
73,
--Loren, AD6YU
Hey Loren!
Yeah, the only ham antennas I have left are a 40 mtr dipole and a magmount for 2 & 440 on top of the HF rig in the shack. LOZ's HDTV antennas pushed all the rest of the aluminum off of the roof hi. That and the Internet are the two main hobbies here now. He's got some pretty awesome web pages on HDTV. Ever since he retired from KGO, I've found he actually likes to watch television, and he does that a lot. He's also very active in the broadcasting mail lists.
My main activity was HF CW, and to be honest, the chat room on here would be a lot easier for several guys in a QSO than a rountdable CW QSO would be. Hey, it's not ham radio, but at least it's with packets, and a ham (me) wrote its software! Also, it's possible some of the newcomers don't know the code now. The FCC doesn't require it anymore.
As for packet, we hardly ever get on that anymore either. We both pick up our mail now at our web domains. He shut off the W6PW-3 BBS in 1999. It had dropped from 175 users in 1995 down to 2. Everyone had QSY'd from that band to the one we're on right now hi.
The chat room on here is busiest 5-9 p.m. Pacific (0000-0400Z). Let's set a night and do it! Of course, that way all the "SWLs" could not only copy the mail, they could also transmit. No license required!
We could also, there, work out a sked via radio if that would work for some of the guys. Scheduling anything with one-way bursts of traffic, be it by e-mail, phone tag, or posts on the board here, is horribly inefficient. Doing it with us all in one roundtable would be a lot easier. Name an evening and time, and let's go for it!
73,
Bill, K9AT
Well, I just tried the chat room as a test (never tried it before) and it seemed to work with Safari, however Echolink would allow VOIP. Another possibility is Skype, however I am not familiar with that.
>> and he does that a lot. He's also very active in the broadcasting mail lists.
Bill, which broadcast lists? I thought I had seen them all but I guess not. tnx.
K9AT DE AD6YU R --
Hey, Bill--
I've never tried the chat utility here. Will have to try it. If you have 2M FM, we might make the distance from SF to SJ through some high-level repeater. WR6ABD (146.64 MHs [-]) is good from Oakland down to Gonzales, with a drop-off around Prunedale (between Gilroy and Salinas). The repeater itself is located on Mt. Loma Prieta, and is used a lot by people in Santa Cruz County. Can you hit it? When propagation is good, stations from Fresno, Yosemite, and even Paso Robles have been able to access it. On 2M, which repeater has given you the best coverage from your location? Around here, Tuesday is 2M FM net night. So any other night would probably work.
Has WB6LOZ tried ham TV? My guess is he probably considers the technology to be too ancient!
73,
--Loren, AD6YU
I've worked it when on 101 going down towards Paso Robles, but I'm not sure it gets all the way up here, especially with just having an indoor mag mount.
We hardly ever get on 2 meters anymore. I can't say which machine would be best since they tend to move around over time, and the politics on different machines changes. In any event it would just be you and me, since everyone else is out of the area. We'd need to be on HF. If we're to use any of the various linking facilities, then we might as well just admit we're on the Internet and use the chat room. [g]
We belonged to a TV club in 9-Land, but sending pictures of yourself got old real quick. Borrrrring. Despite Chicago being a big city, we never had more than three dozen people on. The Bay Area has been the same, but we never got into it. Look at how picture phones never caught on really, and how so few people use web cams with audio compared to how many just use their landline phone or their cell phone. That says something: people don't need to see each other in order to chat.
If we got into TV now, of course Larry would insist on its being HIGH DEFINITION!
Bill
K9AT DE AD6YU R --
Hey Bill,
Sorry about the typo on Larry's call sign. Of course he is
WB9LOZ. I just get into the groove of typing 6th area call signs, LOL. On HF, I'm on 20M CW only with QRP (2W) and a low, droopy "Y" dipole. The QRN on 20 CW has been horrendous, and only the DXers on the low end keep the band alive most of the time. When there is a major contest like Sweepstakes or Field Day, however, the CW segment comes alive. My last significant QSOs were on Straight Key Night on New Year's Day--more than 3 months ago! Do you have anything going on HF CW? I think we are close enough to where QSB and QRN conditions on the band wouldn't really affect us. We're almost within ground-wave distance, LOL. Do you still have any functioning HF gear? If Larry has taken over the roof for his TV stuff, do you still have an HF antenna? I suppose that even an indoor base-loaded whip or indoor dipole of some sort would work. A few years ago, I worked a guy in Idaho Falls who was using a base-loaded vertical located atop his living room coffee table. I have yet to snag a K9AT QSL card. So in my book you are still "Big DX"!
73,
--Loren