The Listening Post
November / December 2014
DEDICATED TO COMMUNITY SERVICE AND ALL CENTRAL FLORIDA HAMS
+ NO DECEMBER CLUB MEETING * DEC 6 CHRISTMAS PARTY +
OARC CLUB MEETING
November 5, 2014
Location: Beardall,
Gore St. Orlando
Time: 7.30 pm,
ARRL Testing: 5:30 pm
For information updates
See www.oarc.org
CELEBRITIES DISCOVER HAM RADIO:
OARC REPEATERS
CHRISTMAS SEASON 2014
NEXT OARC MEETING NOVEMBER 5th 2014
* Ham celebrities * Remote Ham Radio * Christmas Party last call for
tickets * Upcoming Events * HamCation® team starts preparations *
Actor Tim Allen Gets His Ham
Ticket For Real
Source ARRL News
Actor and comedian Tim Allen now not only plays an Amateur
Radio operator on television, he is one! Allen, whose real name is
Timothy Alan Dick, got his new call sign, KK6OTD, on September
4, but did not release the news until this week. In his weekly ABC
comedy TV show “Last Man Standing,” Allen’s character Mike
Baxter, is supposed to be KA0XTT, and the show has featured
ham radio in some episodes.
“Last Man Standing” producer John Amodeo, NN6JA, told ARRL
that the agreement with Allen was that “we would not publicize
his license until he approved it.” Allen revealed to Tom Medlin,
W5KUB, for one of
Medlin’s webcasts
that he had passed
his Technician
license test but did
not mention his call
sign, Amodeo said.
“We arranged for
Tom Medlin to do a
‘surprise” interview’
with the [ARRL
VEC] VE team that
administered Tim’s
test,” Amodeo said. “They are Rob, AA6RA; Tim, N6QJ, and
Julian, N3JF. ARRL VEC Staffer, Amanda Grimaldi, KB1VUV,
helped us arrange the test.”
Continue page 3
Wednesday November 5th we have a presentation: ‘How to set up a remote
ham station’. It needs a PSK capable radio, an audio interface, a computer and
some of software. Come and see the world of ham radio in an other
perspective. Presented by Barry Isbelle, N2DB.
Call
Freq
Shift
KB4UT 146.760 - 600
N4UMB 147.015 - 600
PL
103.5
103.5
D-Star
K1XC C
K1XC B
K1XC A
K1XC A
W4PLB C
W4PLB B
146.820 - 600
443.275 + 5 MHz
1275.000 - 12 MHz Voice
1255.000 - 12 MHz Digital
145.160 + 600
442.300 + 5 Mhz
All D-star repeaters are connected
to the Gateway.
OARC Board of Directors
President: John Knott, N4JTK
Vice President:Peter Meijers AI4KM
Treasurer: Jim Logie N4VH
Secretary: Lidy Meijers, KJ4LMM
Directors:
Bob Cumming, W2BZY
Ralph Betts, W4ORL
Bob Nocero, W4KBW
Val Jacyno, AK4MM
Michael Cauley, W4MCA
Barry Isbelle, N2DB
In this Issue:
- Celebrities go for Ham Radio
- Christmas Party
- Remote Ham Radio Stations
The Listening Post is the OARC
newsletter for OARC members. The LP
will be distributed electronically only via
E-mail and the OARC web site.
Editor: Peter Meijers AI4KM.
Comments, suggestions and articles are
welcome. Sent it to [email protected].
Contributing to this edition: John Knott,
N4JTK, Lidy Meijers, KJ4LMM.
OARC Listening Post
November 2014
2
Letter of the President
Greetings Everyone. I hope everyone is doing well. It’s the most wonderful
time of the year! Cooler weather, family time, holidays, lot’s of outside
activities, and so much more. It’s a good time to remind you that their will not
be a meeting in December. Don’t forget the Christmas Party. I can tell you
that it is going to be an extra special event. Wednesday night will be your last
opportunity to get your ticket. Because we are offering this to members and a
guest for free, there will not be any tickets available at the door at the party.
Tickets will not be mailed. It’s up to you to make the arrangements to get your
tickets. Don’t miss this year’s party by waiting to long. Please remember to
bring a small unwrapped toy for “Toys for Tots”.
HamCation is around the corner. Peter and the rest of the committee are
already in full swing to make HamCation 2015 the biggest one yet. But don’t
forget, they can not do it without you. There are lots of opportunities to volunteer and earn money for
your favorite non-profit. Please be sure to volunteer some of your time during HamCation. Finally I just
want to take a moment to wish each and everyone of you the safest and happiest holidays. Your Officers
and Directors do everything they do for You, the member! We want the Orlando Amateur Radio Club to
be the best ham radio club you will ever be a part of, and if it wasn’t for You, the member, there would
not be an OARC!
Happy Holidays!!
John Knott, N4JTK
FEBRUARY 13, 14 & 15 2015
It’s the time of the year to look ahead at the 69th
edition of the Orlando HamCation® 2015.
The HamCation® committee is already very busy with
all the preparations for the event. The first
reservations for all the areas hit the mailbox and the
team works hard to deliver the paperwork to the
guests and vendors.
Now it is the time also to ask for volunteers. We look for help in the Commercial area, RV,
Security, Swaps, Tailgate, Testing, and Forums. The HamCation® operation starts Tuesday
February 10 in the Tailgate area only. More volunteers are needed from Wednesday
February 12 till Sunday February 15.
How to sign up as a volunteer: meet with the chairman for the area you like to volunteer;
or send an E-mail to
[email protected]
You will receive an E-mail with a PDF file. The file
is a fillable PDF file. (No print/scan/sent paper doc)
Please return the PDF file to:
[email protected]
OARC Listening Post
November 2014
3
Continued from page 1
CELEBRITIES DISCOVER HAM RADIO
More than 2 dozen members of the “Last
Man Standing” crew — and now Allen, its
star — have been inspired by the show’s
Amateur Radio component to get licensed.
On September 28, the K6H “Hollywood
Hamnado” special event station was on the
air, with “Last Man Standing” crew members
at the helm. The Southern California-based
PAPA Repeater System, in association with
the Broadcast Employees Amateur Radio
Society (BEARS) and Disney Emergency
Amateur Radio Service (DEARS) sponsored
the special event.
Political reporter Jamie Duprie who works in
Washington for Orlando Channel 9 WFTV and
radio station WDBO, is also a ham operator, NS3T. He is an active contester as well.
There is a complete list of famous Ham Operators, artist, politicians, musicians on a Facebook
Group. ‘The Original Famous Hams and Ex Hams List’. It includes Kings, Movie stars like Marlon
Brando KE6PZH (sk) and TV News anchor Walter
Cronkite KB2GSD(sk)
OARC CHRISTMAS PARTY 2014
If you have not pick up your tickets yet…this is
your last chance to come and pick them up.
No last minutes at the door this year. Tickets
have to be picked up in person and will not be
mailed. After this meeting - November 5- the
food is ordered for the amount of tickets given
out.
See you December 6th at the Knights of
Columbus , Knights of Columbus 5727 Cornelia Ave Orlando FL. 32807-3548
Doors open at 6 pm. Please bring an unwrapped toy for ‘Toys for Tots’
OARC Listening Post
November 2014
4
Presentation November 5:
How to Set Up a Remote Radio Station by Berry Isbell N2DB
Updated October 2014 - originally published in October 2013 Listing Post
A remote radio station operates over most internet access
means. I have used a laptop connected locally to a cell phone
to operate my base HF station.
I was asked to itemize how it was done. Trying to take notes
during the meeting will be difficult.
There are many different ways to make this work. This way is
a good place to start.
It requires 3 "free" pieces of software, and 3 pieces of
hardware to make the remote base work.
The software I used was Microsoft Skype to create the audio
link. The second was Team Viewer software to access and
provide local control of the remote computer. The third program was the "free" version of Ham
Radio Deluxe.
I purchased my copy, but the free version work just fine. This provides control of the
computer programmed radio.
The remote Hardware consisted of a modern radio that was capable of doing PSK operation. This is
important in that your voice will use the same path that a PSK tone would go.
This brings us to our second item, the audio interface. I
used a SignaLink USB. It provided pre-configured
working cables right out of the box. It also provided easy
to set volume controls for receive and transmit line
levels. The third hardware item was the remote
computer.
Any modern generic Windows XP dual core or better will
work. It will need a serial port to allow HRD frequency
control, and USB ports for the audio stream. Obviously
you will need internet access above 1MB on both sides. On the local side you will need a generic XP
Windows computer with USB and internet access. I use a generic USB headphone and microphone
combo on mine. It just sounds better than a headset with phono jack plugs. It is best to start on
the remote computer software loading first.
You can test most things from there before trying to operate from somewhere else. Follow your
radio manual first and complete the serial CAT connection.
Then connect your USB SignaLink between the pc and radio. (Or
whatever interface you have. Load HRD and bring your radio online. Most radios are already preconfigured in HRD.
Verify frequency and audio controls. You should now be able to use the computer to operate as
easily as the radio front panel.
Next load Skype and register for a free account name. It will need to be different than your local
Skype name. Setup the audio levels and ports.
Continue page 5
OARC Listening Post
November 2014
5
Continue from page 4
How to Set Up a Remote Radio
Station
Next load the remote server Team
Viewer software on the PC. You
will need to set a login name and
password.
Make it a good one, and turn your
firewall on. At this point we will turn
our efforts toward our local PC. It is
best when first setting up that
they are both located in the same
place. This simplifies
troubleshooting tremendously.
Load Skype first. Setup local audio
ports and account information.
Hook up your headset and do a local audio test. When it passes load the remote side of Team
Viewer. Test by using Teamviewer to reach and control your remote PC from your local pc.
If you can start HRD from the local PC congratulations. Skype should already be running remotely.
The next test is to "ring" the remote Skype account from your local computer. If everything is
working correctly you can answer call on the remote PC thru the local one!
At this point you should be
able to use Skype and HRD
to remotely operate your
station. This is a starting
point, you have much testing
and tweaking before it is
ready to go live. Done well
your friends will not be able
to tell if you are home or on
the road. A word of warning!
This setup uses VOX by
default. If you have choice
words for your computer, it
may go out over the air!
This is a great week end
project, and works well.
Different software and interfaces may be substituted.
Most any radio that will run PSK with a CAT interface should work. This is the fun of Ham Radio in
that you can experiment and make things work in ways that were not intended.
OARC MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS 2015
All Wednesday 7.30 pm
January 7 - February 4 - March 4 - April 1 (elections) - May 6 - June 3 - July 1 August 5 - September 2 - November 4 - December (No meeting, Christmas
Party)
OARC Membership Application
Make Checks payable to
Orlando Amateur Radio Club
Orlando Amateur Radio Club, OARC
P.O.Box 547811
Orlando FL 32854
To have your membership card mailed to you,
Please include a SASE with your check.
Date: ___ / ____/201__
[ ] New Membership
[ ] Renewal
[ ] CMP
Name: ____________________________ Call ____________ Class _______
Address: __________________________ City__________________ State ___ Zip
E-mail Address (print) ________________ Birth Month ________________
Nick Name (print) ________________
(Cell) Phone ________________
Rates: [ ] 1 year $15.00 [ ] 3 years $ 40.00 [ ] 6 years $ 75
[ ] individual
___________
Dues total:________
[ ] family (list additional calls [ ] Associate
__________________
____________
Your Memberships will expire ONE year from date paid.
Other Club Affiliation: _________________
Are you an ARRL Member: [ ] Yes
[ ] No
Name Badges: White Letters on Black background with Gold embossed OARC logo.
[ ] Regular 3” x 1.5” @ 10.00
Name _______________ Call ________
All badges are to be picked up at the general meeting. Or add $ 2.00 for shipping & handling.
Shipping & Handling [ ] Yes
[ ] No.
Badges _________ S&H ________ Total __________