Jul 22 2017

70 Years of Science Discovery

70YearsofDiscovery

This past week I participated in BNLARC’s Brookhaven National Laboratory’s 70th Anniversary Special Event from 7/16 to 7/21. BNL’s 70 Years of Scientific Discovery started with an open house for families and children on 7/16. The radio club was on site with both a SSB and CW station during the operating hours. During the rest of the week the event operated from various locations.

Although the HF bands were poor this past week I managed to make about 100 contacts. For the first time I also worked some of the event on DMR and received a great response from the guys I worked on 3100 (nationwide).

I also set up a QRZ page for those interested in getting our full page certificate.

70 Years Of Discovery_Certificate

Some interesting facts about Brookhaven National Laboratory:

  •  Served as army base for two world wars
  •  Hosted Irwin Berlin (Yip Yip Yaphank was the song)
  •  First peace time nuclear reactor (1950 Brookhaven Graphite Reactor)
  •  Developed the two common radio isotopes (technetium 99M and thallium 201) used in medicine today
  • First synctron accelerator (1953 Cosmotron Accelerator)
  • First Nobel Prize winner in 1957 followed by 6 more
  • 1958 First video game, Tennis (aka pong)
  • 1961 First PET scanner for medical use
  • 1967 developed the leading drug for Parkinson’s disease treatment, L-dopa
  • 1958 Maglev (magnetic levitation) patented
  • 1975 started producing radioisotopes for the northeast, still a major supplier
  • 1979 proved UV-a and UV-B lead to cancers of the skin:
  • Current studies include: 1) Radiation studies preparing for travel to mars, 2) more efficient catalysts, 3) fuel cells, 4) photovoltaic solar cells, 5) biofuels, 6) batteries
  • A 32 megawatt solar farm on 200 acres for production and study to improve efficiencies

Click HERE to find out more about the history of Brookhaven National Laboratory…

Jun 25 2017

Field Day Was a Blast!

Brookhaven National Laboratory Amateur Radio Club

 

Been enjoying Field Day for about 30 years now and this year was no exception. Despite a family obligation I managed to squeak out around 150 CW Q’s!

 

This was my first year working split (so to speak). I attended the BNLARC / K2BNL Field Day with old (and new) friends on Saturday evening for around 4 hours.

KE2YK's KX3

 

Sunday morning was the first time working QRP CW from home! Unlike working Field Day from a picnic bench, this old geezer really appreciates the comforts of home. Worked class 1E in the central air… and you can’t beat that!

All in all despite the horrific WX Saturday morning on Long Island, Saturday evening at BNLARC was picture puuurfect. The WX was so clear I caught a faint glimpse of the Milky Way galaxy despite the light pollution.  A truly rare instance with humid Long Island summers!

72 and 73 KE2YK

 

 

 

 

 

Apr 23 2017

DMR Sites of Interest Around The Web

DIGITAL MOBILE RADIOIf you are new to DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) there are a ton of Web sites that provide helpful and/or interesting information.

This list is in no particular order and I do plan to update it as I find other sites of interest.

The folks who run the Brandmeister Network have developed many cool Web pages but one of particular interest to newbies is Hoseline.  You can actually listen in on QSO’s in progress. By clicking the Talk Groups drop down, you can change the TG you are listening to. You may use the Scan feature to listen in on several TG’s.

KG5RKI has developed DMR Netwatch Map which includes information from related sites. It’s a work in progress but well worth the visit.

N0GSG has developed free software called Contact Manager where you can maintain code plugs from various vendors all in a single app. Code plug conversions between radios are also possible.  As of this post Contact Manager works with the CS700/750/800 Tytera MD380/390/390GPS, Retevis RT3, and AnyTone AT-D858 Radios.

W2XAB published a rather comprehensive PDF in 2015 called the Amateur’s Guide to Digital Mobile Radio. It’s worth the read for anyone interested in learning more about DMR.

K2YO and the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club presented an Introduction to DMR which does an excellent job of covering DMR for the newbie.

KC5HWB is the creator of HamRadio 2.0. As of this post, Jason has published around 90 videos. Many of  his videos cover reviews of various DMR radios, code plug programming and HotSpot reviews. If you want to purchase ham radio equipment, check out Jason’s ham radio store at Grapevine Amateur Radio.

The PRN System offers a Wide Area Digital Amateur Radio Network which spans areas of North and South Carolina as well as areas of Virginia.  Their Web Site offers a Getting Started Page, Repeater and Talk Group Information, Code Plug downloads and more!

KC7JOE’s blog has detailed information Fusion, DMR, DSTAR and HF NETS. Check out his Amateur Ham Radio Net List.

N2NSA has detailed information related to repeaters which connect to the New York Metro DMR Repeater Network. 

Use my Contact Form if you have or know of a DMR site that would be of interest to others.

Enjoy! 73 Gary KE2YK