HAM RADIO IN SPACE

I became a bit upset today after reading a posting from the AMSAT BB. The ham was angry or upset because an astronaut from Canada did not have his ham radio license but instead chose to text and tweet from the International Space Station. This upset me because so many hams seem forget that Amateur radio is a " guest " on the I.S.S. and is not a priority. Myself I'm grateful that we (ham radio operators) have a working radio station aboard the I.S.S. It took a lot of work and planning to get the equipment up there and install it. Imagine taking a space walk to install a ham radio antenna ! Then installing the coax from a vacuum environment to a pressurized environment, no problem I do it every day right? NOT!
My first exposure to Amateur radio in space was hearing W5LFL Owen Garriot aboard the "Space Lab or Sky Lab" I can't remember which. Then another instance happened in the 1990's when I received the "DOVE" satellite beacon transmission before it went silent. In 2010 I went to the Dayton HamVention and saw an AMSAT demonstration and I was bit by the bug. All though I have not made a contact via satellite but have the equipment to do so. I guess I'm a bit "gun shy" of attempting to make my first contact, hopefully I'll do it this Summer!
73's
Mike

Putting Shack back Together

My shack or radio room as I call it is in my basement right under the kitchen. At my left upstairs is the bathroom and we had a leak there. It had gotten to the point where something needed to be done, The wood flooring was shot and I was afraid the toilet may eventually fall through. I found someone who would do the necessary repairs, so I took my station apart put my equipment in a safe place until the work was done. I made sure the benches were covered with tarps also. Today as time will allow me I will start putting things back as the work is done. Checking the propagation it don't look like I missed much in the past 48 hours.

73's
Mike/N8GBU

On the Border

Well as the title says I'm on the border ! I joined www.myhamshack.com yesterday and wanted to double check my grid location as I have a tendency to mix up the letters. Myhamshack.com is a free ham radio website you can blog at etc. Anyways I went to www.qrz.com to check my grid location there as they have an application that will help you that. After entering my grid EN81GQ I decided to experiment with various letters as I noticed the Northern grid line was extremely close to my qth. The app. uses Google maps so I started changing the last letter to see where each was. I put in  EN81GR and Low & Behold that was the next grid square going to the North. The map also kept each grid on the map as I entered the next so you could see the location in relationship to the other. Well getting back to that EN81GQ - EN81GR border curiosity killed the cat I had to magnify and get down to the nitty gritty on where exactly this Northern border was in relationship to my qth. Well after numerous adjustments I found this border ran down the back yard property line ! When using the satellite mode on Google maps and finding my qth there are a couple of distinguishing markers. The first one is two doors down the street going east on the opposite side of the street the garage roof has " GO BUCKS " wrote on it with roofing tiles. Number 2 is I have an extremely tall Pine in the back yard that is at least 75 feet tall. I use this tree for my G5RV antenna to attempt to gain height but have to be careful as power lines, telephone lines and cable all run through that tree. An interesting find indeed !

73's
Mike/ N8GBU

Updating The Blog

I have changed my blog address so it fits my callsign better and has a more Amatuer Radio theme. For people who know me quite well know I try very hard not to engage in political topics unless it concerns Amatuer Radio. Why? For over two years I worked for a political telemarketing research firm here in the Toledo, Ohio area. Why did I take a job like that? I worked for over 20 years as a Diesel Mechanic my back gave out and I had other problems landed me on disability. The time I spent doing the telemarketing was helping pay the bills until my Social Security case was won. That took over 2 years. During that time I suffered the rants of the general publics opinions on various issues, canadates and scandals. I have a tendacy to get on the air during contests so I can build up my log book. I suffer from chronic pain so I operate when I have " good " days.
73's

THE ANGLE OF THE DANGLE

This past Fall my son helped me raise and straighten my G5RV antenna. I had it rather low to the ground, draping the ladder line along the garage roof. I also had a "dog leg" at one end of the antenna! When I really started getting active on the bands and " DX" could be heard I decided I had to fix this, my son took to climbing a tree in front of our home. He noticed a problem with a rather large tree branch hanging over the house and sidewalk. Once the antenna was in its new position he asked for a hand axe and began chopping away. I was debating on what to do with the ladder line. I live on a rather small lot and the antenna wasn't high enough to let it hang down like it should. I managed to just have line to bring it back to the house on about a 45 degree angle from the rest of the antenna. Last night and today the wind is really blowing about 35 mph with gusts. I was happy to see my G5RV still up in the air this morning!


73's N8GBU / MIKE