Here is a link that Jane, Kd8KRS (my lovely wife and a ham) passed along to me.  http://www.globaltuners.com/home.php  This site looks to be a good site for those that wonder what it would be like to 1) operate someone else’s ham radio from a distance via the Internet and 2) listen to a ham or shortwave radio in a different location.

This site looks to have about 60 radios that you can use via the Internet.  It does require that you create a user account and it does require approval by an administrator.  That is a bit of a disappointment for an eager radio enthusiast that wants to get started using the radios right away.  But, all good things come in time they say.

This will be a quick, short post to let any ham radio operators and short wave listeners or just those that wonder what it’s all about know that this resource is available.

Stay radio active!

Jon Kreski, AB9NN

http://www.HamRadioResources.com

http://www.Twitter.com/AB9NN

New years day is a day to reflect on the past year and to embrace new beginnings or the new year.  This pastyear has brought me many fun new experiences on new ham bands (for me) like 20 meters, getting my A.P.R.S. tracker insalled, configured and functional and getting to know the electical noise and propagation characteristics of a new home.  New year’s resolutions include the commitment to explore, learn and implement WinLink (and probably other digital modes) and to research training in Morse code.  I also plan to build a base station in our new home.  And I commit to fully implement electronic logging via eQSL and perhaps other services.

I hope that you will take a fresh look at your ham radio operations.  The hobby is so diverse and can be so technical that no one should ever feel they “know it all”.   Find those areas that you don’t know much about and find out if they are of interest to you.  I see many hams not doing this.  They become bored and drop out… With that said…

Stay Radio Active!

Jon Kreski, AB9NN

http://www.HamRadioResources.com

http://www.Twitter.com/AB9NN

My wife and I attended Green Bay National Weather Service’s (NOAA) SkyWarn Appreciation Day on Friday December 4, 2009.  This day is a “thank you” to trained severe storm spotters that also use their ham radio training to form a many-to-many communications network of trained spotters that help provide real-time intelligence to the National Weather Service.  The National Weather Service says this information is quite valuable.

I had been to several of these events over the years, and this one was as interesting as any I had been to.  I have been a trained SkyWarn spotter now for about three years.  I joined when I realized that I would be spending close to two hours a day commuting in an area that sees tornadoes each year.  I also would be going on fishing trips, etc..  Why not 1) be tuned in to a network of trained spotters for my own safety and 2) be trained to relay what I see if I should stumble into some severe weather?

Jane, Kd8krs (my wife) has recently been trained in severe weather spotting by the National Weather Service in lower Michigan.  She had never seen a forecast office and I thought this would be a nice addition to her training.  I also had a few questions to ask, as usual.

At the National Weather Service office we were given a personal tour (ok – there were 4 of us in the tour) of the forecast office.  That was pretty cool, but been there done that…  For me the best part was to talk to Pete Johnson, AB9PJ.  Pete is an expert in repeaters and APRS for the local area.  Pete was able to supply us with a neat map showing the various APRS resources in the NE Wisconsin and U.P. of Michigan area.  I was excited to learn that additional people are running APRS “receiving stations” that would provide us with better APRS tracker coverage in the area.

Pete also shared some tower climbing stories as well as some insights into future plans for 10 meter and 6 meter repeaters.  You read that right!  10 meter and 6 meter repeaters.

Pete Johnson also pointed us towards http://www.wvraclub.org/ – this ham radio club in the Wausau, WI area has some good experience with and resources for APRS in the central Wisconsin area.  It was nice to connect with one person that could connect us with other people in various parts of the state to help us educate ourselves in this interesting field of use of ham radio and gps data to track ourselves on the internet.  The National Weather Service wants this capability to add precision to reported severe weather locations.

Pete Johnson advised that we set our beacons to around once a minute and to NOT use “smart” beaconing.  Actual data updated as much as possible is what is wanted for severe weather spotting.  If you think about it, if you are traveling at 60 MPH, that is a mile a minute…  a reporting error of over a mile for a tornado location could prove dangerous for someone…

I encourage ALL hams to participate responsibly in SkyWarn.  Not to CHASE storms, but to position ourselves to SPOT what is happening on the ground.  The National Weather Service advises that weather radar really can NOT see it all…  To get started, go to your local National Weather Service website and find out when the next training is being held.  Do NOT spot without this training.  Your report would not be considered as valid without it.  And, it is for your safety.  Then find your local SkyWarn group.  To find your local SkyWarn group, ask around on your local 2 meter or 70 centimeter repeater or ask your local ham radio club.  To find your National Weather Service web page, go to http://www.crh.noaa.gov/grb/ and enter your city and state where indicated in the white box near the upper left corner of the page.  Most training is in the early spring of the year.  Some training may be available on-line as well.  To review a well-run SkyWarn regional site go to http://www.mke-skywarn.org/  -  for the national SkyWarn site go to http://www.skywarn.org/ .  Even if you decide NOT to join SkyWarn, then at the very least please find the local SkyWarn repeater frequencies and procedures and listen for our spotter information for your own safety.  Also, PLEASE stay off the air during our operations unless you are a trained spotter!  Until then…

Stay Radio Active!

Jon Kreski, AB9NN

http://www.HamRadioResources.com

http://www.Twitter.com/AB9NN – follow me for blog update notices, etc….