Category: INTERNATIONAL

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A Ham For 63 Years

A Ham for 63 years – by Carol Fraley Laferty – K4SAF

My ham shack has been upgraded to my dream She-Shack, and I am having more fun in ham radio than I have had since a teenager.  I have been operating the digital modes for two years almost, and during the Corona Virus Pandemic I set some amateur radio goals.  I have accomplished more during this time than I ever dreamed possible.  I have finished DXCC, and received Worked All States on 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, and 15, Mixed, Digital and CW.  I need only AK and WY on 10 meters. Thanks to all in the ham community all around the world for helping me achieve this.  I was never interested in completing these awards until now.

The hardest award for me to get has been the YLRL WAS YL (Worked All States).  I need only MT and RI now to complete it.  Many more of the licensed YLs need to get on the air more often.

I was 15 when I got my license in 1957 and will be celebrating my 64th year as a ham on 9/28/2021.  My brother, Fred Fraley, W4CHK > AA4FF > W4DF, who is now a Silent Key, was instrumental in getting me on the air. He taught me the code and shared his shack willingly with his younger sister.  I have kept the same call all my years on the air. My late father also got his license at the same time I did and was K4SAB.

I met my husband Don Laferty, K4GFY via radio in 1957. He is also now a Silent Key.  We talked for three years on cw and phone before we actually met in person.  We had been married for 53 years when he passed in 2015. Our son Don Laferty, Jr., who lives in Wisconsin, now has his Dad’s call, K4GFY.

I am a retired high school Business and Computer teacher. I also taught part-time in the CIS Dept at Morehead State University.  I am active in the Young Ladies Radio League (YLRL) and was the   U.S./Canada Receiving Treasurer for 11 years.  I enjoy seeing my YLRL and ham friends at Dayton Hamvention and at our national YLRL convention, which is held every 3 years.

I am also a member of QCWA, SKCC, and FISTS, and our local radio club, Morehead Amateur Radio Society, in Morehead, KY.  I received my Extra class in 2000, just before the 20 wpm code requirement was dropped. Hope to see you on the bands or possibly on Facebook.

QCWA  Quarter Century Wireless Association
SKCC Straight Key Century Club
FISTS  The International Morse Preservation Society

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German Radio Hams Tackling RF Noise Pollution

DARC reports 35 Electrical Noise Area Monitoring Systems (ENAMS) have been delivered and another 20 locations are sought as part of the effort to monitor the interference from human-made noise on the HF bands

ENAMS is based on nationwide installed measuring stations that work as a network. With their help, the DARC can make scientifically reliable statements about interference levels on the frequencies. As is well known, the interference has increased in recent years, as various consumer devices drive up the noise level.

The ENAMS project was funded by the DARC Membership Pro in 2018.

ENAMS – https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/emv/enams/

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Slow Down To Bust A Contest Pileup

Slow down to bust a contest pileup – Observations By DAN KB6NU

In the Minnesota QSO Party last weekend, there was a big pileup trying to work a station in some remote county. The operator was working about 23 – 25 wpm, so I replied at that speed. I even sped up a little thinking that I might be able to slip my call in before the others.

Well, after several unsuccessful calls, and hearing the MN station reply to several slower stations, I decided to slow down myself. Bingo! I got a reply to my first call at the slower speed. My guess is that the slower speed made my call easier to copy and to stand out from the others. I don’t know if this tactic would work in a bigger contest, but I’m going to use this tactic again in a future QSO party.

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The Finnish Amateur Radio League also offers the award SRAL100

The Finnish Amateur Radio League issues the SRAL 100 award in honour of the 100th anniversary year 2021. For the award, you must have contacts with at least 100 different OH amateurs. The contacts must be held between 1.1.2021 and 31.12.2021. All bands and modes allowed for radio amateurs may be used. Contacts via repeater stations are not accepted. Short wave listeners can also apply for the award. By working at least 100 OH stations during 2021 you can apply for the award. CLICK for more info.

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The New Zealand YL Scene During 2020

NEW  ZEALAND  LADY  AMATEURS 2020 – Ngaire ZL2UJT

2020 was a strange year for everyone in the world with COVID arriving .

Fortunately New Zealand has so far managed to avoid the worst of it and our lives here were not affected as badly as other countries. This was due to many factors, one being that we are a very isolated country in the Pacific ocean and the other is we closed our borders and went into complete lock down earlier than most. Thank goodness our country of 4 million complied and we were able to keep the disease at bay.

Lock down here for us personally was not a problem as we live close to a beach and part of our “Bubble” included a walk past the cliff overlooking the beach which was so relaxing. Also it gave us time to spend relaxing at home instead of going to meetings of the many clubs we belong to, and also the many lunches out with friends, which in turn saved us heaps of money.

This was a time that Amateur radio excelled and people came on the air and chatted. All our radio nets were busy and people used the airways as never before. Interesting events like the backyard Summit on the Air, the ZL2AL activity event with trying to maintain 4 contacts per day and the upper HF bands starting to open up made for interesting and fun Ham Radio days. On top of that we had fabulous weather.

Unfortunately during this time WARO our women’s amateur radio organisation went into recess, as many of our members were unable to go on the air any more due to their Om’s passing away, old age, or developing other hobbies with members being reluctant to form an active and dynamic committee.

In general we seem to have new young male recruits coming on board but hardly any females.

Our local club a few years ago had 15 active female Amateurs, now there are only two who come to the branch meetings while the male activity is growing and the enthusiasm from the new members has not diminished with time. On the bright side our female activity is high and recognized by the local branch members who proposed me for the Jumbo Godfrey award which I was honoured to receive.

We have our AGM due mid year so hoping that members will front up and join the committee and we can continue this great group. We have not capitulated and still hold a ladies net on Monday nights on our national system and also sometimes an HF 80 metre net on Thursday evenings. With propagation slowly improving on the bands above 80 metres with the upcoming sunspot cycle, we are hoping that we can do more Dxing.

There seems to be an upsurge of women doing their CW which is a new trend so hopefully this will encourage people to participate on the air more.

33 Ngaire ZL2UJT

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QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo

Whether you’re a ham that doesn’t want to travel because of Covid or just live too far from a hamvention, the QSO Today Expo offers the opportunity to learn from many great speakers, meet with exhibitors to see the latest technology, and engage with fellow hams without leaving your home ham shack………..More Info – HERE .

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Copy CW Signals More Easily With Two Tones

By –

In CQ – January 2018 – Pete, N8PR (SK) wrote that you should set up your receiver to produce two tones 65 to 80 Hz apart to make copying weak CW signals more easily. The theory behind this is that the dissonance between the two tones makes copying a CW signal more copyable than just a single tone. I like this  idea. I played around a little bit last night with this technique, and it did indeed seem to work better than using just a single tone.

Read original POST – HERE .

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WOTRA  2020 (Women On The Radio Award) Report

WOTRA  2020 (Women On The Radio Award) – Ángeles M.T (EC1YL)

A large number of radio amateurs from around the world, participated in the 2020 annual event.. More Awards for YL’s stations were delivered this year, thereby fulfilling the group mission of encouraging more YL participation.

In 2019 when the Award was launched, the event was more of a practice session, but one year on (2020) it can be considered a success thanks to the increased interest and participation of YLs.

This year, WOTRA has focused more on the work of the Special-Event-Stations  and their regular attendance on the bands, rather than on the individual making a certain number of QSO’s.

Becoming involved required commitment and the responsibility of regular participation.

Much effort and determination was needed  in an event at this level.  Not always an easy task and for this reason, several of the participants who started at the beginning of November, found themselves unable to continue through to the end.

Special thanks to the Operators that participated throughout, they displayed  great team-work and coordination amongst  everyone. In alphabetical order they are:

Ana – EI / EA7KMA
Angels – EC1YL
Carmen – DM4EAX
Cath – MW7CVT
Laila – OE3LZA
Pink- LU7IRS
Ydorca (Mariela) – YV5EVA
Zulema – CO8MGY

In particular I  would like to recognise  Zulema Gonzalez Ochoa CO8MGY  from Cuba. To reward and recognize her work, as the operator that made the most QSO’s, especially as it was her first year in this great event,  She participated with enthusiasm and dedication.

Laila OE3LZA, also had the privilege of being able to get her beautiful Award for her contact with my special station on November 25 (EH1YL), on the occasion of the ‘International Day against Gender Violence’.

Special thanks of course to all the Operators of the Wotra Award 2020  and for their effort to contact their WOTRA colleagues and in obtaining their beautiful Awards.  (2 Dec, 2020)

Women on The Radio  is a Radio Group, created by Ángeles M.T ( EC1YL), for licensed Radio Amateur YL’s Worldwide  https://web.facebook.com/groups/1913222872262810/about

[EDIT – COX: And from a UK perspective BYLARA (British Young Ladies Amateur Radio Association – also available via QUICKLINK)]

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KDKA 100 Years Young

The 2nd of November marked the centennial of US radio station KDKA.

The station originally began operations in 1916 as an amateur radio station, callsign 8XK. After WW1, the operators reorganised the station as a commercial AM radio station.

To celebrate this historic milestone, Pittsburgh area amateur radio operators will take to the airwaves with a series of special event stations, K3A, K3D, K3K, and W8XK. These will be set up at several locations in Pennsylvania during November.

Checkout W8XK QRZ.com Page for more information.

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