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Handiham World for 03 February 2010 Courage Center Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for the week of Wednesday, 03 February 2010This is a free weekly news & information update from Courage Center Handiham System. Please do not reply to this message. Use the contact information at the end, or simply email handiham@couragecenter.org. You can also listen to the content online: MP3 audio stream: http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.m3u Download the 64 kbs MP3 audio to your portable player: http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.mp3 Get this issue as an audio podcast: http://feeds.feedburner.com/handiham Welcome to Handiham World!See you in May That's what Dr. Dave Justis, KN0S, writes. Just look at Dr. Dave standing by that big snowman. You would never guess that he lives in Virginia, and that the snowfall there has been most unusual for that southern State! Dave is planning to be at Minnesota Radio Camp at Camp Courage, May 21 through 28, 2010. A long-time Handiham volunteer, Dr. Dave is a veteran of many radio camp sessions at locations in California and Minnesota. The return to Camp Courage, which is a big change for us, actually brings the Handiham program closer to its roots. Dr. Dave remembers when the first radio camp sessions, then called "convocations", were held at Camp Courage. For the past 20 years Minnesota Radio Camp has been at Courage North, deep in the pines of Northern Minnesota, near the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Camp Courage, founded in 1955, is just an hour west of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, in southern Minnesota. The new location will provide campers like Dr. Dave excellent accommodations and much more convenient transportation options. Find out more about camp or download an application: For Handiham World, I'm... Patrick Tice, wa0tda@arrl.net Revision to new Technician pool released by NCVEC Press Release for immediate distribution ...... Second Release - February 1, 2010 After initial public release of the 2010 Element 2 Question Pool on January 4,2010, by the NCVEC Question Pool Committee, minor typos and errors were found and/or submitted for adoption to correct or clarify meaning of questions and answers. These adopted changes are now incorporated in the text of a revised question pool and are reflected in an errata list in a revised document dated February 1, 2010. The previously released pool dated January 4, 2010 is invalid for use. NASA GIVES 'GO' FOR FEB. 7 AS FINAL SPACE SHUTTLE NIGHT LAUNCH Lieutenant Colonel (Dr.) Robert Behnken, KE5GGX, will be on the crew of the last Space Shuttle mission to be launched at night, STS-130. NASA: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour is set to begin a 13-day flight to the International Space Station with a Feb. 7 launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is planned for 4:39 a.m. EST, making this the final scheduled space shuttle night launch. Endeavour's launch date was announced Wednesday at the conclusion of a flight readiness review at Kennedy. During the meeting, senior NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures are ready. Endeavour's flight will begin the final year of space shuttle operations. Five shuttle missions are planned in 2010, with the last flight currently targeted for launch in September. Endeavour's mission will include three space walks and the delivery of the Tranquility node, the final module of the U.S. portion of the space station. Tranquility will provide additional room for crew members and many of the space station's life support and environmental control systems. Attached to the node is a cupola, which houses a robotic control station and has seven windows to provide a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft. After the node and cupola are added, the orbiting laboratory will be about 90 percent complete. Commander George Zamka and his crew of five astronauts are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy at approximately 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, for final launch preparations. Joining Zamka on STS-130 are Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken. Virts will be making his first trip to space. STS-130 will be Endeavour's 24th mission and the 33rd shuttle flight dedicated to station assembly and maintenance. For more information about STS-130, visit: Patrick, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is sending updates about his training to his Twitter account. He plans to tweet from orbit during the mission. He can be followed at: http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Nicholas For more information on the space station, visit: LettersHam Test Online You mention the AA9PW practice exams at http://www.handiham.org/node/98. I'd love to see you mention HamTestOnline: http://www.hamtestonline.com as well. While the study portion of our website is subscription-based, we also offer free practice exams. One thing that should especially interest you is that we have the option of generating practice exams using only the questions which do not include figures, in the same fashion that exams are generated for people who need a no-figures test. Letter from N0UF at QCWA Hi Everyone, Linda and I spent a wonderful 45 minutes with Ben and Grace Miller yesterday afternoon on the way back from the Chapter 8 QCWA meeting. Their QTH is St Louis Park and they live in the home they built right after WWII, that's "they built", not had built. They will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary in May. Grace said, "She doesn't know how Ben has put up with me for all those years!" Ben will be 99 in October. He has macular degeneration and currently only has 15% of his vision. Grace still drives, of course she's only 94. I had the honor of presenting Ben his QCWA Award for having been licensed for EIGHTY YEARS! Yes boys and girls, that's 8 0 years. Out of 35,000 QCWA members over the years, it's only the 39th 80 year award ever presented. We took a few pictures and I told Ben I would be calling to interview him so we could build his biography. He said no need and handed me 9 typed pages that include 5 pages of biography, a 2 page letter to another Chapter 8 member and a 2 page history of Twin City Radio Industry that covers from 1934 to about 1972. What enjoyable reading! As I get these into an electronic format, they will be added to the QCWA and Chapter 8 website and parts will find their way into the QCWA Journal. If you or a Ham you know lives close to Ben, he would like someone to come over and put his antenna back up. It was taken down when the roof was re-shingled a few years ago. His TS-520 is ready to go. Carroll B. 'Ben' Miller, W0DKL, is a QCWA Life Member, a Brass Pounders League member, and past SD Section Traffic Manager. He was first licensed in 1929 73, Bob Roske, N0UF Special Event: The Goonies  I have some station news for everyone at Handihams! Back in 1984, Richard Donner and Steven Spielberg worked on a film together about a bunch of kids who were losing their homes and had to move. This group of kids were known as local rejects who were always out on some adventure. The plot involved Jake Fratelli, a police chase, this group of kids, buried treasure, and a race to save their homes. This movie was called "The Goonies". From June 4th to June 7th, 2010 the Goonies will gather in Astoria, Oregon where the movie was filmed for their 25th Anniversary Reunion and I will have the privilege of being there with them. Not only that, but yours truly will be on the air from Astoria with the special event call K7G. Frequency operations will be: 146.580 FM Voice, 443.000 FM Voice, 14.285 USB Voice, and 7.185 LSB Voice. Stations who QSL will receive a Goonies 25th anniversary certificate acknowledging the contact made. Pay attention to the ARRL Special Event Listing for QSL information. News will also be posted at Short-wave America, so don't forget to visit the blog! http://www.shortwaveamerica.blogspot.com or http://www.shortwaveamerica.wordpress.com That's all for now! 73 everyone and have fun on the air! Dan - KC9NCF Screenreader for Blackberry®HumanWare and Code Factory are pleased to announce that Oratio for BlackBerry(R) smart phones is now available for purchase. Formally known as Orator for BlackBerry smart phones, Oratio is the first screen reader software solution that enables visually impaired users to access and operate BlackBerry smart phones using state of the art Text-To-Speech technology to convert the visual information displayed on the BlackBerry smart phone screen into an intuitive speech output. This enables its users to use BlackBerry smart phones to increase their independence and productivity in today's competitive world. Available through online purchasing from: Thanks to Ken, KB3LLA, for sharing this press release from HumanWare. Handiham Echolink Conference Server
Thanks to N0VZC, we are now set up with a HANDIHAM Echolink Conference. If you wish to access the HANDIHAM Conference with a computer, open your Echolink application and use the search function to find HANDIHAM. Add it to your favorites once you locate it so that you will have easy access every time you open Echolink. The HANDIHAM Conference can accommodate 100 stations. To access the HANDIHAM Conference through your local Echolink-enabled repeater system, simply enter node number 494492 on your keypad to connect. Press # to disconnect the node when you are done. HANDIHAM has nets Monday though Saturday at 11 a.m. United States Central Time and a second net on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. Central Time. All hams are welcome to check in. Other N0VZC Echolink nodes and resources: N0VZC-L Node 45096 on EchoLink. (147.450 Tone 114.8 in Faribault, MN) N0VZC-R Node 103224 on Echolink. (444.725 Tone 114.8 in Burnsville, MN) *MN_CONF* Node 64260 (Minnesota Conference Room) *HANDIHAM* Node 494492 (Handiham - www.handiham.org) MN_Conf currently holds the SEMARC net every Wednesday from 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. Central Time. All hams are welcome. Thanks to Mike, N0VZC, for hosting these resources! February Events by N1YXU
Image: February in Minnesota. Who's under that hat? The groundhog is about to let us know our weather fate for the next six weeks! I sure hope that an early Spring is in the forecast. It certainly has been an interesting winter so far in many parts of the country. We just had a relatively good snow storm for our area in North Carolina. Enjoy the last taste of winter and first days of Spring (hopefully soon!). Until next month… Regards, Laurie Meier, N1YXU Remote Base back online The W0EQO remote base was restored to service at 11:05 AM Monday, February 1, 2010. The Lenovo computer had experienced a problem while doing updates, and did not reboot. This required a staff member to restart the computer, which is housed in the dining hall attic at Courage North. We apologize for the inconvenience. Patrick Tice, Handiham Manager Puxing PX-888 with talking menusHi all, Today I got another Chinese manufactured radio, Puxing PX-888 which is a single band radio. It is available for both 2m and 70cm. The nice thing with this radio is that it features talking menus, so that when you press the menu key and scroll the menu, all items are spoken. However, not all settings are spoken when adjusting them. I have also had the radio for a few hours and for $76 it was worth it. I had to use the programming software in order to turn on the voice. I have recorded a little demonstration of it and how it sounds like. What do you think? http://www.sendspace.com/file/z72bdv And a little thought. I looked at some other Chinese manufactured radios and many of them featured voice prompt or voice annunciation, but the question is how much each radio can actually speak. But this radio speaks more than the Wouxun radio that I have. 73, Christian, SM0UWV Editor's note: There are reviews of the Puxing on eHam, but we are not sure if this radio is FCC type accepted for sale in the USA: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/8450 Elsewhere - two items NASA - Apollo 11 Onboard Audio Highlights Link from KB3LLA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/40th/a11_audio_highlights.html NASA Radio Jove 2/3/2010 Ken Silberman, KB3LLA, of the Goddard Space Flight Center Education Office interviews Dr James Thieman and Dr. Leonard Garcia about NASA's Radio JOVE project and how blind people solder their own radio telescope kits. The Radio JOVE project is a hands-on inquiry-based educational project that allows students, teachers, and the general public to learn about radio astronomy by building their own radio telescope from an inexpensive kit and/or using remote radio telescopes through the internet. Participants also collaborate with each other through interactions and sharing of data on the network. Please go to http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov for more information. 3.8 MB This week @ HQ
Minnesota Radio Camp dates for 2010, Camp Courage: Arrive Friday, May 21. Cost of Radio Camp: The cost of Radio Camp depends on your ability to pay, so anyone can afford to attend. Ask for an application.
Volunteers: VOLLI is now in service. It stands for VOLunteer Log In, and is a way for our Handiham volunteers to register and then enter their volunteer hours without having to fool around with paper records. We encourage volunteers to create a user name and password, then submit their hours spent recording audio, doing club presentations for us, and so on. Volunteer hours are important, because United Way funding depends in part on volunteer hours. If you are a volunteer and need a link to VOLLI, please email me at wa0tda@arrl.net. Our special thanks to my son Will, KC0LJL, who wrote the Java code for VOLLI. Volunteers, get your hours in through VOLLI. You may also submit volunteer hours to Nancy at Stay in touch! Be sure to send Nancy your change of address, phone number changes, or email address changes so that we can continue to stay in touch with you. You may either email Nancy at hamradio@couragecenter.org or call her toll-free at 1-866-426-3442. Mornings are the best time to contact us. Echolink net news Wednesday evenings the Handiham Echolink net is on the air. Please join us and check in or simply listen in, as you see fit. We are on the air Wednesday evenings at 19:30 hours Minnesota time (7:30 PM) or GMT: Thursday morning at 01:30 Z. Daily except Sunday at 11:00 hours Minnesota time (17:00 GMT) Where:
Everyone is welcome. You do not need to be a member, and the net is relaxed, friendly, and informal. By the way, our Net Manager Howard, KE7KNN, reminds us that we need net control stations for the Wednesday evening net and for the Monday through Saturday morning net. If you are in the Twin Cities, all you need is a radio that can get on the 145.45 N0BVE repeater, and if you live outside the RF area, you can still be net control via Echolink, IRLP, or WIRES. Supporting Handihams Now you can support the Handiham program by donating on line using Courage Center's secure website. It is easy, but one thing to remember is that you need to use the pull-down menu to designate your gift to the Handiham program.
We really appreciate your help. As you know, we have cut expenses this year due to the difficult economic conditions. We are working hard to make sure that we are delivering the most services to our members for the money - and we plan to continue doing just that in 2010. Thank you from the Members, Volunteers, and Staff of the Handiham System Patrick Tice, WA0TDA, Handiham Manager Handiham Membership Dues Reminder: Handiham renewals are on a monthly schedule - Please renew or join, as we need you to keep our program strong! You will have several choices when you renew:
Please return your renewal form as soon as possible. Your support is critical! Please help. The Courage Handiham System depends on the support of people like you, who want to share the fun and friendship of ham radio with others. Please help us provide services to people with disabilities. We would really appreciate it if you would remember us in your estate plans. If you need a planning kit, please call. If you are wondering whether a gift of stock can be given to Handihams, the answer is yes! Please call Nancy at: 1-866-426-3442 or email: hamradio@couragecenter.org Ask for a free DVD about the Handiham System. It's perfect for your club program, too! The video tells your club about how we got started, the Radio Camps, and working with hams who have disabilities. Get the Handiham E-Letter by email every Wednesday, and stay up-to-date with ham radio news. You may listen in audio to the E-Letter at www.handiham.org. Email us to subscribe: Handiham members with disabilities can take an online audio course at www.handiham.org:
That's it for this week. 73 from all of us at the Courage Handiham System! Pat, WA0TDA Manager, Courage Handiham System Reach me by email at: Nancy, Handiham Secretary: Radio Camp email: ARRL is the premier organization supporting amateur radio worldwide. Please contact Handihams for help joining the ARRL. We will be happy to help you fill out the paperwork! The weekly e-letter is a compilation of software tips, operating information, and Handiham news. It is published on Wednesdays, and is available to everyone free of charge. Please email wa0tda@arrl.net for changes of address, unsubscribes, etc. Include your old email address and your new address.
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