Good Evening,
It has been one long week. The weather which threatened to snow me in last
weekend caused more trouble to the lowlands than it did to me. I had twelve
inches of snow when the precipitation changed to rain and melted it all very
rapidly. The streams flowed into the creeks which flowed into the rivers and
thence to the ocean. Needless to say it got deep down there. They also had
higher winds than I did on the coast. Last year I had 150+ mph gusts while
this year it was only around 70 mph.
Our ARES district 1 was activated. I have never spent so much time in voice
communications via radio! We passed traffic all over the place. I was able to
act as liaison between VHF and HF frequencies. 80 meters covered the effected
areas quite well for the duration. Pat would be proud: our ECOM students were
active in six counties in Northwestern Oregon. They did a fine job and the
govenor noticed amateur radio operators exist :) All the training we put in
month after month through exercises and public events was put to the test. We
passed.
On another note: I have a brand new radio! My trusty K2/100 is from 2001.
#2511 had never had any changes made to it from when it was built. I had
received the A to B mod kits but never had the time to install them. A friend
with much experience building K1s, K2s, KX1s, and additional modules offered to
upgrade and align it for me. I got it back from him yesterday and have spent
many hours listening. The filters work better, the gain is higher, and it
sounds cleaner. I had 80 meters on until bedtime last night marveling at how
well it received and how quiet the band was. Wow! What a difference! Now to
see how it works on transmit.
Tomorrow I will get that chance. I received quite a few emails over the
week about modifications to net times. Since ECOM took all my time I have not
had a chance to send any emails in return. ECOM also took me away from all of
my other chores and duties. Only today is the pile of dishes gone :) I will
not change the 40 meter schedule because it seems to be working well. The 20
meter net will meet an hour earlier. If that does not work tomorrow I will
move it up another hour to see if we can find a good spot. The sun decided to
make a large spot over the last couple of days but the absolute minimum is
still in the future. Predictions are saying March will be the bottom. But you
cannot tell how the bands will work unless you are actively engaged in using
them.
Please join us tomorrow evening.
1) Hail signs (first letter or two of the suffix of your call)
2) NCS help (as well as QSP/QNP <relay> help)
Sunday 2300z (Sunday 3 PM PST) 14050 kHz
Monday 0300z (Sunday 7 PM PST) 7045 kHz
Stay warm and be careful!
Kevin. KD5ONS
ecn.visionseer.com for net details
December 10th is coming :( I plan on cutting a tree that day to ease the sting.
KJR
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