This radio ham is operating on 2 meters. Why is her hair so funny? Why is her ham shack so cluttered? Why all the cameras?
She is an Astronaut on the International Space Station talking on 2 meters with hams on Earth. Hair goes wild in Zero gravity.
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• Can I talk with the ISS? Well... Yes. Kind of. • How do you do that? We have a local expert here in Melbourne, Florida. • Does the ISS have a heavy braided copper strap connecting everything to earth ground? Huh? • Are there ham transponders in the sky? Yes, they're called satellites. • Hams have been bouncing RF off our first satellite for many years. It's known as "the moon." • Other bouncing modes include meteor scatter and aurora scatter. Fun stuff. • Where can I transmit? This LINK shows where you may transmit as a Technician, General, and Extra. • Always be alert to where the band edges are for your license, and stay back 3 or more KHz. • On HF, the trick is to learn which bands will work at what times of the day. • When you call another station, you use "from" (or "de" on CW). W4XYZ this is (or from) W4GAL. • That order is correct. Many other communications services are in the reverse order of that. • If you put these things into practice, you will sound like you've been licensed a long time. • Repeater use: don't call CQ. It's a dead giveaway you got your call yesterday. Just say your call. • There are a lot of people listening who may not say anything. The repeater puts you front and center. • Some repeaters are linked to others and your transmission may get wide-area coverage. Be aware. • If you want to chat, see if you can "go direct" and move off the repeater. "QSY to 146.55 simplex." • In order to get an insider's understanding about ham radio, listen to the bands and the repeaters! • There is nothing quite so valuable as hearing a lot of levels of experience in daily QSOs. • Listen to how they interact. Notice the breaks before the other station comes back, leaving room. • There is a constant flow of contests. Contests are set up for various reasons, and are a lot of fun. • We operate contests at the PCARS club station for new people to experience them and learn. • Our club station is also open on Wednesdays starting at 5 PM. We are always open for questions! • If you are criticized and are told you have done something wrong, you just met a bully. • We have a fellow in Melbourne who apparently finds it enjoyable to be nasty to newcomers. • Most everyone on our repeaters will try to be helpful to new folks. Not this guy, unfortunately. • In a recent gathering of local long-time hams, all present knew who it was without naming him. • If you are criticized for using the "wrong procedure, or words," Just thank him and sign off. QRT. • Don't give up on ham radio just because of a bad apple. Talk with your mentor (or me) about it. • As I was re-reading the preceeding paragraph, I thought about something else you need to know. • It's the word, "Lid." I've been licensed a very long time and I have no idea where this came from. • If you call a ham, a Lid, it's worse than a swear word! A long-time ham will drop right into a funk. • On the positive side is FB or Fine Business. That means I'm doing very well, or copied it all fine. • Do I need an antenna tuner? If you have full sized antennas, cut to the bands you are on, no. • Many rigs have tuners built-in. That will work fine with antennas that aren't too far from tuned. • If you are using a compromised or strange antenna, or a shortened version, maybe yes. • Antenna tuners don't tune antennas. They fool the transmitter into thinking it's a perfect match.  • Can I get a Vanity call with my initials, like you? Yes, if one is available. Ask K8RAR or N4JGR. • How about a cool call? KO4VVV, KO4XXX, KO4YYY, KO4ZZZ? Yes. Grab it before it's issued! • My guess is after KO4, the FCC will skip over KP (VI, PR) and go to KQ4 like KQ4AAA. • You can also go back through the Ws, Ks, Ns, AAs, as long as you qualify with license class. • Hint: your call is like your name. Once you get used to it you may not want to change. • Is it free? Yes, BUT that is changing. Don't wait. The FCC will SOON be charging $35. • Here is the Process to apply for a Vanity call. Meanwhile, check out KO4OOO and VK6GAL. • How about a cool email address? Your call letters without additions @ gmail.com will be available. • If you join ARRL, you can have your call @ ARRL.net. That's a nice and well recognized address. • You can also forward either of those to your regularly email address. • Finding out about another ham - location - etc. www.QRZ.com. Put your own call in. Top left. • Then try mine: W4GAL. Then try my Puerto Rico club call: KP4MM, or enter my AU call VK6GAL. • Active hams use this constantly. I'm always surprised when someone is not taking advantage of it. • You can see how many times people are looking for information about you: Lookups: _____. • If you click on the picture in the upper-right corner, the picture may get a lot larger. • Can I edit my own QRZ page? Yes. Is it fun to build your page? Yes. Is it free? Yes. • QRZ.com is free... but if you pay for the service like I do, there is no advertising. Ha. • Help. I was listening to a repeater and couldn't understand what they were saying. • Yes, your ear will become more accustomed to the sounds, but mics can be lousy, or.... • Hams can be careless with enunciation. Speak clearly so you could understand yourself. • I listened to a net control station recently and I never did get his call. Nothing made sense. • Is it a good time to upgrade to the next license? Yes. Now, before the FCC charges $35. • Go to www.W4GAL.net • Do we have a lot of camaraderie within the amateur radio community? Yes. On and off the air. • W7DMM is my longest ham-friend. We met in 8th grade study-hall in Iowa. We were both 13. • We discovered our mutual interest because we were reading the same ham radio catalog! • I was a Novice, he was ready to pass his Novice exam, and now we're both 80 :-) • To build camaraderie, attend ham gatherings, and get involved. Help others. That's a hint! • Should I know more Q signals? Yes, the Technician license only tests for three. • QRP or QRO? It's your choice (power level). QRX (hang on a minute, I'll be right back). • Here's a list of common Q Signals on an ARRL page. Actual usage can be slightly different. • How do I learn the proper or accepted way of communicating and identifying? Listen. A lot. • What are QSLs? Paper postcards used for the last 100+ years to confirm a QSO. Examples. • Would you like to get some QSLs for your new call? Cheap QSLs. Or KB3IFH QSLs. • Are there other ways of QSLing? Yes, eQSL and LoTW at ARRL to name two. • Do I have to log my QSOs? No, but you might wish you had, later. At least logging early days. • When first on, I thought that I needed to log everything. Pages of CQs with no one coming back. • I still have all my old logs. Now I use a logging program: N3FJP.com. There are others. • Should I make my own antennas? Yes. It's more fun and it's cheaper. • Is a dipole a good antenna? A properly cut dipole can be an excellent antenna. • A multi-element beam (Yagi) is really a dipole with helpers. It's named after Mr. Yagi in Japan. • How about a full sized flexible whip to extend the range of my hand-held 2 meter transceiver? Yes! • How about putting a home-brew antenna in the attic and connecting it to my hand-held? Sure! • What are the frequency bands and names? • MF Medium Frequency .3 MHz to 3 MHz. Includes the AM Broadcast Band and 160 meters. • HF High Frequency 3 MHz to 30 MHz. 80 60 40 30 20 17 15 12 10 meters. • VHF Very High Frequency 30 MHz to 300 MHz. 6, 2, and 1¼ meters. • UHF Ultra High Frequency 300 MHz to 3 GHz. 440 MHz (70 cm), 902 MHz (33 cm) + 3 more. • SHF Super High Frequency 3 GHz to 30 GHz. 4 more ham bands. • EHF Extra High Frequency 30 GHz to 300 GHz. 6 more ham bands. • Then come the Infrared and Visual Spectrum, Ultraviolet, X-Rays, Gamma Rays, etc. • What's a Grid? Am I in a Grid square? Yes, it's an international system for locating ham stations. • Mine is EL98qb in Melbourne, FL. When I'm operating remote from Croatia, it's JN85gv. • When I am on the VK6SR remote in Perth, Western Australia, I'm transmitting from OF87bt. • Want to find yours? HERE. • When I was licensed as a 13 year old, I was told to never talk about three subjects on the air: • Politics, Religion, and Sexual Innuendos. I still don't today. Much better left unsaid. • If it happens, I find another QSO. I don't stick around. Or I move the power switch to off. QRT. • At a recent hamfest, there was a large political display at a set of tables. I skipped those tables. • If you create a QRZ page, I highly recommend you avoid politics/religion/sex subjects completely. • Should I buy lots of equipment? You can if you want. It's an enjoyable part of ham radio. • Are there ways around that? Yes. Or you can buy used gear. Make sure it works first. • A number of companies make kits. They take time, but the pleasure is greater when used. • Do ham clubs have stations set up that I could use? Some do: PCARS & HARG. • If you are at a military installation like Patrick, see if there is a MARS station. • Can I operate a remote station? Yes. And you can remotely control your own station. • You can also operate remotely through www.RemoteHams.com to many stations for free. • You can also operate remotely through www.RemoteHamRadio.com. It's not free. • Are you a teen or pre-teen? To a teen, ham radio can often sound like a bunch of old men. • That's a little misleading, but it's a common perception because many old-timers are on the air. • This also applies if you are helping a son, daughter, or a young friend learn about ham radio. • Check out a quick look at the teen side of the story: Teen • Should I learn morse code? Yes - from a few letters to competence. You're part of history. • Many of the how-to-learn CW examples on YouTube use visual memory. That's totally WRONG. • With any of those methods, you will max out at 5 wpm, if you're lucky. • Would you like to learn CW? A LINK. • What is DX? Distant stations. • How far away is that? It depends somewhat on the frequency/band. • On HF, It could be Europe, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, or Australia. • On SHF, it could be a mountain top you can see from the mountain top where you are. • Would you like to say 73 at the end of a QSO? Then say 73, not 73s. • 73 is Best Regards. 73s is effectively saying Best Regardses. • Can I interface my computer with my station? Oh, yes. In so many ways. • Who is the control operator at my station? Raise your right hand... • Are there mentors available to help me? Yes. • A good place to start is the PCARS club station, 1980 Hughes Road, Melbourne, 5 PM Wednesdays. • Also, the PCARS monthly club meeting, VFW on Dairy Road, 7 PM on the 2nd Monday of the month. • That one is in Melbourne, Florida. Many cities all over the world have similar clubs. |
