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Hawaii and Pacific Section Report - June 2016Hi all, ARRL Field Day in Hawaii occupied a lot of us this month. Every island had a club outing. I participated at the EARC/KARC site on Oahu at Kualoa Regional Beach Park – mostly just helping eat the food. All over the islands, the Amateur Radio Community came together to support the events. Folks came out to set up, some stayed overnight, donated equipment and time to bring everything together. Several FD sites conducted VE sessions and licensed new hams that then had an opportunity to operate. Field Day is living up to the expectation of getting new hams on the air. We’ll try to collect and share stories and photos from the clubs for the section web site. The effort to receive ARRL Field Day messages was slower than hoped. A total of four were received - :(. On the mainland many FD sites included a Winlink station to originate and relay messages. More on that next month. We continue to look for local news about Amateur Radio activities in Hawaii. If you have anything you’d like to share, please pass it on. Aloha es 73, Joe Speroni |
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West Coast W1AW CW Qualifying Runs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For many mainland hams, copying W1AW to earn CW code qualification was a personal challenge. Many Hawaii hams did it too when the band conditions were right. W1AW transmits qualifying runs once a month at speeds starting at 10wpm. To earn a certificate, you have to copy one minute solid and submit it to ARRL. Details on the program are at, Copying W1AW for the qualification run in Hawaii can be challenging, especially with recent band conditions and their choice of afternoon Hawaii times. I hadn't noticed, but the ARRL working with several groups on the west coast now has qualifying runs at times when the bands are more likely to be open to Hawaii. The schedule for the runs is available at, Thanks to Warren (KH6WM) for passing on this information. He reported good copy on the Battleship Missouri Club Station (KH6BB) at Pearl Harbor on 18097.5. The next best was 14047.5 and 21067.5. No copy on 40 and 80 though, at 11:00 AM local time. Warren is working on his 100wpm certification (humor). While researching the information on qualifying runs I had a chance to look at all the W1AW services and was pleasantly surprised to discover that daily code practice continues. Digital modes too - RTTY 45.45 baud Baudot code, PSK31 in BPSK mode and MFSK16. All transmission audio is simultaneously available on the ARRL Echolink server W1AWBDCT. It's not the same as copying thru QRM and QRN, but still excellent practice. The code practice is also available from downloadable MP3 files if your schedule doesn't allow listening in real-time. W1AW and associated services are available to all Amateurs. Take a look at the web site to see all that's inside W1AW, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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State EMCOM Plans for a WinLink Network | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA, formally State RACES) is taking the leadership in developing a statewide digital EMCOMM network based on WinLink. As part of the project they are applying to the SHARES and SECURE programs for HF digital frequencies that are authorized outside the Amateur bands. They have begun an effort to upgrade their Amateur Radio Packet gateways at Mauna Loa (Big Island), Haleakala (Maui), and Diamond Head (Oahu State EOC) to WinLink. A Diamond Head gateway (KH6HPZ) will be connected to the WinLink CMS network. Once the SHARES HF frequencies are allocated, KH6HPZ will be upgraded to Tri-mode Hybrid software to get experience with statewide traffic handling. HIEMA plans include developing RMS Packet Gateways at each island county EOC, allowing ham community volunteers to support the build out of a digital based message system for Hawaii. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hawaii Winlink Statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How are we doing with email on Amateur Radio HF? Everyone knows we can't match wideband cell tower speeds. The bandwidth required is not available on HF and the ionosphere is not a very good error free media. Still HF has the advantage of being able to operate independent of the Internet and when a cell tower is not close by. Amateur Radio HF Winlink/Winmor is email for use "when all else fails". A total of 49 stations used the Hawaii server this month. Six were Hawaii based - AH6JA, AH6KO, KH6WG, KH7AX, KH7T and NH7J. Let's take a look at Hawaii Winlink traffic for June 2016. A total of 5,253 messages were passed on the five HF channels used at KH6UL/KH6SP - 40, 30, 20, 17 and 15 meters. That involved passing 23.6 MB of text and attachments, which could have been images or data files. This is from a single server. Other states have well developed networks with hundreds of servers all passing traffic 24x7. There is an opportunity to expand Hawaii's network, improve its thruput and offer redundant paths interisland and to the mainland.
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GetKonaOntheAir | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Joe (KH7AX), the President of KARS, is another guy trying new things to increase the activity and interest in the Amateur Radio Service. Teaching many new radio related technologies isn’t suitable for 30-minute club presentations, so Joe decided to add events under the guise of "Get On the Air Kona!" for his KARS (Kona Amateur Radio Society) club. His first training session was held Saturday, June 11th at 2pm at the West Hawaii Civic Center in their main meeting room. He devoted two hours to FLDIGI, the free program that allows ham radio stations to send and receive text, pictures, and forms over radio. Prior to inviting local hams to participate he introduced them to a few good YouTube videos showing how the system works. Hams that showed up already had studied for the session. By all accounts it went well and Joe plans another session next month on WINLINK/WINMOR. Maybe this is something you might try at your club. It won’t lead to big meetings. Not everyone will be interested in the topic chosen. But it may lead to increased activity in some areas of the hobby. Joe put together a web page to advertise these activities and lead to the full KARS club web site. Check it out, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Net Control Web Software from Kona Bob | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kona Bob (AH6GT) has been busy extending his www.40meter.net web site that is used by most of the Hawaii interisland HF nets. It is a convenient tool for net control stations and others checking into nets. Check it out at, New functionality allows hams to sign up and unsubscribe from receiving notifications by text message when someone posts that they are monitoring a frequency. Notifications could be handy during hurricane season, letting everyone know who is monitoring a net frequency. It can also be handy when you are working on an antenna or equipment, and need an on-the-air check. If your net is interested in using this system, contact AH6GT using the email link at the bottom of his web site. This seems like a great tool, even for VHF nets. Net control can use it to check-in stations and have a list on screen for second round thru the list. And it can be kept as a digital record of station activity. Groups running Hawaii nets should take Bob up on his offer to add nets to the web site. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Thank You Hawaii Winlink | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The KH6UL (PACTOR only) and KH6SP (PACTOR or WINMOR) offer an important service to stations that have no other way to communicate email, whether at sea, off the grid or during an emergency that affects Internet access. Here are a couple of appreciation messages received this past month,
The Hawaii station runs 25 watts on all bands. The antenna system is a big part of its effectiveness. It is a set of vertical dipoles configured as a log periodic covering 2-30 MHz. The picture below shows the dipoles strung from a 120 ft. tower sloping down to a 30 ft. tower where the antenna is fed.
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Hawaii QSO Party in August | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Don't forget to mark your calendar for the Hawaii QSO Party on August 27-28. Thanks to Stu Nishimura (KH6FP), the web site has been updated with information about the use of N1MM+ that supports the contest. See the web site for contest rules and helpful information, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hawaii Intruder Reports, May-Jun 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Merv (KH6/K9FD) submitted these reports to the ARRL OO office in May and June. Notice the increasing use of digital modes by band intruders. With RIMPAC in operation off our coast in July, we may expect an interesting report next month. The OO program continues to look for volunteers. If you have the equipment and time and would like to contribute, please drop Merv or your Section Manager an email.
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