Amateur Radio Field Day 6/26/04 and 6/27/04

Just under four years ago I became interested in wireless networks because
of my background in computer security. The computer networking part of
wireless was an area that I had many years of experience but the wireless
part, I was not as familiar with. To become more familiar with wireless I
decided that associating with others that knew more about this so I went
about the steps necessary to get Amateur Radio Technician License. By the
way, there is no longer a Morse code requirement for this entry level
license.

Every year, on the last full weekend of June, Amateur Radio Clubs practice
emergency communication by setting up their radio equipment in temporary
locations. Running on batteries or generators, they have a contest from
Saturday (1800 UTC) until Sunday (2100 UTC) by trying to make as many radio
contacts as possible: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/06/17/3/?nc=1

Field day is a great time to meet people in the Amateur Radio community and
find out more. Visiting a Field Day operation you'll be invited to operate
ham radio gear under the supervision of an appropriate control operator. The
public is invited and always welcome.

Computers and the Internet have invaded most aspects of Amateur Radio use.
Some examples:

APRS: Automatic Position Reporting System
(http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/aprs.html or http://www.aprs.net), often
uses PC's to communicate locations and radio "Instant Messages". I have this
setup in my car (http://www.pasadena.net/projects/auto.htm) and have used
this system to send short messages over the air to other mobile users and
over the Internet.

ISS: The International Space Station has Amateur Radio gear. Ham's on the
ground have spoken with astronaut's for years
(http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/06/17/6/?nc=1). In addition the ISS
has an APRS system on board. I have used the radio and computer gear in my
car to send and receive short messages to/from other hams in other States
utilizing the ISS APRS "repeater" (http://www.ariss.net).

PSK31: (http://psk31.com and http://home.teleport.com/~nb6z/scrnshot.htm)
PSK31 is a form of keyboard-to-keyboard conversation or chat over RF.

HSMM: (http://www.arrl.org/hsmm/) The use of 802.11b(g) equipment under
Amateur Radio rules.


I'll be attending the Pasadena Radio Club Field Day setup tomorrow, Saturday
afternoon: http://bassett.net/personal/prcfielddayflyer.shtml I bring my
kids and I encourage them to get on the air. A Google search should find
several local clubs in your area.



Frank


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Co-Founder, Southern California Wireless User Group:
http://www.socalwug.org

IM: Yahoo: wlanparts, AIM: wlanparts, MSN: frank at pasadena.net
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Wireless Antennas, Cables and Equipment:
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