Merry Christmas From Amateur Logic TV

Another great Christmas show from Amateur Logic !! Have a Merry Christmas everyone and let's look forward to 2018 !!

ARRL International Grid Chase 2018

Source: The ARRL International Grid Chase

Get ready to kick off 2018 with a new year-long operating event!

Bart Jahnke, W9JJ
ARRL Contest Branch Manager

You may not know this, but your station is in a Maidenhead grid square. The entire world is divided into thousands of these 1° latitude × 2° longitude squares, each one with a unique designation. They're all part of a geographic location system adopted in the 1980s at a meeting of the VHF Working Group in Maidenhead, England.

Unless you are a VHF enthusiast, this nugget of information may not mean much. But at 0000 UTC on January 1, 2018, the global Amateur Radio community will be very interested in grid squares.

Get in the Chase

The objective of the ARRL International Grid Chase is simple: Work stations in as many grid squares as possible and upload your log data to ARRL's Logbook of The World. If you are not currently registered with Logbook of The World, this is a good reason to get started. Go to https://lotw.arrl.org/lotw-help/getting-started/. Registration and uploading are free.

Every new grid square contact confirmed through Logbook of The World counts toward your monthly total, so you have an incentive to start the chase as soon as you ring in the New Year.

Just turn on your radio and start calling "CQ Grid Chase," or listen for others doing the same. Make the contact, enter it into your log, and you're on to the next (see the sidebar, "Tips for the Chase").

At the end of each month, your totals on the Grid Chase leader board will reset to zero. Fear not, though. The online scoring system will maintain your monthly totals for a grand total at the end of the year, when an annual summary will be released and awards given to top finishers in various categories.

The ARRL International Grid Chase is open to all amateurs, regardless of location or license class. Any operating mode is eligible as well as every band, except 60 meters. You'll find the complete rules at www.arrl.org/aigc2018.

MORE INFO HERE --- ARRL INTERNATIONAL GRID CHASE 2018

New "BIRD" In The Air

AO-91 is an FM repeater [1] satellite with a strong 2 meter downlink (receivable with a rubber duck) and an incredibly sensitive receive system on the 70 cm uplink. There are reports of people getting into the bird using a handheld inside a house. That is incredible. This will likely become another “Easy Sat” like AO-51 was. It’s currently being tested by AMSAT-NA but it will be open for general use very soon.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

Holiday Dinner December 6th

SEKARC will be having it's SECOND annual Holiday Dinner. It will be held at Barto's Idle Hour Wednesday December 6th 2017 at 6 PM.. The radio nets will not be held that evening. Everyone is invited and XYL's and kids or anyone you would like to bring are also welcome to come!

QRP... In This Solar Cycle ??

YES, YES, and MORE YES !!

QRP is fun in any cycle!! Just ask some of our QRP fans in the club. Sure it is challenging, but these days so is using 100 watts or more !! The latest podcast from the ARRL features QRP so give it a listen !!

Digital Modes and FT8

Here is a great video that covers the growth and progress of digital modes and the through the current explosion of the new FT8 mode! This guy explains things very well and is very informative. I follow him on YouTube and I suggest you do also. He also explains the development of modes from Joe Taylor K1JT and how Taylor has changed the ham radio world!

FT8 is the newest weak-signal mode from Joe Taylor, K1JT, and friends. It operates very much like JT65 but is four times faster and more automated. Learn a little about the history of digital modes and conversational vs bare essential modes! Two sample QSOs!

FT8 IS COOL BUT SO IS OLIVIA

Have you tried the new digital mode FT8? It is truly incredible what signals can be decoded and not heard or even seen on the waterfall! Well if you are like me, you kind of like have a conversation with your QSO you might try OLIVIA mode. It also uses low power and I have decoded signals with it that I could not hear and barely see on the waterfall. Sure OLIVIA is slower and if you are looking for speed then FT8 is your ticket!

Watch this review of OLIVIA from Ham Radio Concepts, then watch his follow up video next talking about CONTESTIA mode!! Great alternatives for low power digital QSO's!

CLICK FOR OTHER GREAT VIDEOS