Courage Center Handiham System

The proclamation reads:

State of Minnesota Proclamation

Whereas: during times of national, state and local emergency, amateur radio operators have provided communication resources at no cost to Minnesota taxpayers; and

Whereas: Amateur radio clubs throughout Minnesota provide courses of instruction and assistance with elementary and high school programs about amateur radio. These efforts and enhance student interest in science, geography, and physics, and provide an opportunity for students to become licensed amateur radio operators; and

Courage Center Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for the week of Wednesday, 23 June 2010

This 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:

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http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.mp3

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Welcome to Handiham World!

Photo:  Pat, WA0TDA, left, and friend Newt, a farmer who let us use his barn for a Field Day ham shack, set up a generator. This was a Field Day with a real field - the end-fed Marconi antenna was hundreds of feet long, extending from a high point on the barn out to a solitary tree in a soybean field.

Ever wanted to go to Space Camp but couldn't get all the way to Alabama?

The Continuing Education Department at the U of MN is offering a one-day "Space Camp for Grown-Ups" on Thursday, July 8.

Courage Center Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for the week of Wednesday, 16 June 2010

This 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!

What coax should I use?

Question:

The repeaters I want to use are all just a bit too far away for me to work with an indoor antenna or a handheld radio. I want to install an outdoor antenna so that I can use several different VHF and UHF repeaters. I already have a dual-band 2m/70cm vertical antenna, but what kind of coax should I use? I am thinking about RG-58 or RG-8X, because they are cheaper and easy to work with than the thicker RG-8 or RG-213. My cable run will be about 100 feet.

Answer:

Since the repeaters you plan to work are probably located in different compass directions, your choice of a vertical antenna is a good one, as long as the repeaters are not so far away that you would need a directional antenna with more gain. The directional antenna usually means

Of course you have heard of ARRL Field Day, right? It's the single most fun operating event of the year for many of us, and we would like YOU to join in the fun. There is an easy to use online tool on the new ARRL website that can help you locate a Field Day event near you.

Check this new resource out:

http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

Once you are on the site, head for the "List By State/Province" link. Then use the pull-down menu to choose your State or Province. The stations at public locations are listed.

If you are studying for your Technician Class amateur radio license, you had better hurry and find a testing session. You have less than two weeks before the new Technician question pool goes into effect on July 1, 2010.

Once the new question pool is in effect, the test will be all new, and the old pool questions you may have been using for review will no longer be used in the actual exam. If you feel that you are ready to test, please find a VE session right away.