Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Thought for the day:  There once was a lady named Wright who could travel much faster than light. She departed one day in a relative way and returned on the previous night.

[THEME: Amateur radio]

Nope, I'm not gonna talk about relativity. I just like that little ditty. Gonna talk about something else.







Most amateur radio operators use UHF and VHF  FM  to chat with other hams in their own community. These frequencies aren't intended for long-distance communications, but are quite effective, and fun, for localized nets and chatting. One downside? It's line-of-sight communications.

That means, if there's stuff ... be it buildings, a forest, a mountain, etc ... between us, I can't talk to you.

Not radio to radio, anyway. That's simplex operation.

But we can extend communications considerably with a REPEATER. 

A repeater receives signals on one frequency,  and retransmits them on another frequency. The higher the repeater is located, the more it extends communications capabilities for amateurs in the area. You and I could be on opposite sides of a mountain, but with a repeater on top of that mountain, we wouldn't have any trouble at all chatting on the radio.

[I'm gonna be hanging out with friends from Friday until Monday, so instead of vegging in front of the computer, I'll be sipping wine, swapping lies, laughing myself silly, and playing games for the next four days. (Thank goodness for auto-posting!) Sorry I won't be visiting any of your blogs, but I always appreciate the great comments you guys and gals leave here, and will respond to them asap. Seeya next week!]

The Long and the Short of It

Thought for the day: We once had a beautiful Persian cat whose hoity-toity papers said his name was something like Lion Paw of North Hampshire. But we always called him Smokey.

[THEME: Amateur radio]

Did you happen to see the Tonight Show episode from a few years back in which a couple young gun telephone text messengers competed against a couple veteran amateur radio operators using Morse code? They both sent the same message, and guess what? The old-timers and their 100+ year-old Morse code technology  won.

I'd love to share that video with you, but NBC has a strict copyright on it. That doesn't mean you can't find the video online. But it DOES mean you won't find it here. (sigh)

Anyway, the fact is, some CW operators can copy and send at 50 WPM and higher. Most of us can't, but even for the lightning quick operators, shortcuts make a Morse code conversation much more relaxed and efficient. Much like texters, Morse code operators use a lot of abbreviations, too, and they also use something called Q SIGNALS. 


In the course of a contact, some questions and responses are fairly standard, so why take the time to send the same sentence in its entirety over and over again? Instead, we can send a three-letter group. For example:

• QSL?       Do you acknowledge receipt, or did you copy that?
• QSL         I acknowledge receipt, or I copied that.
• QTH?      What is your location?
• QTH         My location is _______
• QRZ?       Who is calling me?
• QRZ         You are being called by _______
• QRL?       Is the frequency in use?
• QRL         The frequency is in use.

And so on. There are many others, and even a few silly ones, like QLF? for Are you sending with your left foot? which, trust me,  is not exactly a compliment.

In addition to a host of common abbreviations and Q signals, we also have a few numbered shortcuts, too. Like 73 means best regards and 88 means hugs and kisses. My favorite, though, is 33, which expresses the special bond between females who enjoy, and thrive in, this historically male-heavy domain.

                                       Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other. 

EH? What Did You Say?

Thought for the day:  "Windy," said one man. "No, Thursday," said the other. "Yeah, I am too," said the first. "Let's go get a drink."

[THEME: Amateur radio]

Years ago, when I told my parents a co-worker's 13-year-old daughter had V.D., my father harumphed and said, "I'll bet she smokes, too."

Trust me, he wasn't at all amused by how hard my mother and I laughed at the absurdity of his response.

See, he thought I said T.B.

Too bad we didn't use the PHONETIC ALPHABET.


Because many letters sound so similar, usage of a standard phonetic alphabet alleviates misconceptions and clarifies communications. Radio conditions aren't always ideal, and the accuracy of messages, especially following a disaster, can be of vital importance. The international phonetic alphabet used by amateur radio operators follows:

• ALPHA
• BRAVO
• CHARLIE
• DELTA
• ECHO
• FOXTROT
• GULF
• HOTEL
• INDIA
• JULIET
• KILO
• LIMA
• MIKE
• NOVEMBER
• OSCAR
• PAPA
• QUEBEC
• ROMEO
• SIERRA
• TANGO
• UNIFORM
• VICTOR
• WHISKEY
• XRAY
• YANKEE
• ZULU

                                 (So, that young girl had victor delta, NOT tango bravo.)

No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.