New Eastbourne Radio and Electronics Club

/

The Eastbourne Radio and Electronics Club, EREC, has been setup for those of all ages who are interested in the fascinating world of Amateur Radio and Electronics.

The club's main aim is to provide a strong emphasis in Practical Electronics and importantly fun in learning more about the many areas within the hobby from other like-minded people, in a friendly and enjoyable way.

Our Inaugural meeting and AGM will be on Monday 10th of February 2014 at 7pm and located at St. Lukes Church and Parish Centre, Rattle Road, Stone Cross, Pevensey, East Sussex, BN24 5EB.

Eastbourne Radio and Electronics Club Website - http://www.ereclub.org.uk

Ham Radio growth in the US 2013

/

The ARRL reports the number of amateur radio licenses in the USA is continuing to grow. They note the situation in other countries and make  a misleading comment about the UK

The USA has three license exams Technician, General and Extra. These are equivalent to the UK Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced exams. It is worth noting that even holders of the US Foundation equivalent the Technician are allowed to run 1500 watts output in contrast to the 10 watts the UK Foundation holder is allowed.

The USA used to have a two other license classes the Novice and the Advanced license. The Novice license was designed to provide an introduction to the hobby and permitted 200 watts output on HF. The exam requirements were set at a level that enabled four year old children to pass. The Novice license stopped being issued in 2000, today slightly more than 13,000 people still have a Novice license.

The Advanced license required a Morse test of 13 WPM as against the 20 WPM of the Extra class. When the 13 WPM and 20 WPM Morse tests were scrapped in 2000 in favor of a single 5 WPM test Advanced licenses were no longer issued. Today there are 54,293 Advanced licenses remaining.

The number of USA amateur licenses are:

  • Extra and Advanced - 187,684
  • General - 167,257
  • Technician - 349,163
“Significant number of Technician licensees were earned through large emergency communication and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) classes. ”
— ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM

The ARRL notes the dramatic slump in the number of Japanese amateur station licenses in recent years but the article gives a rather misleading impression of the situation in the UK.

Read the full ARRL article - http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-showing-steady-growth-in-the-us

Ofcom UK Amateur Radio Licence Statistics - http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radiocommunication-licences/amateur-radio/guidance-for-licensees/monthly-stats/

W5KUB Streaming Video

/

W5KUB.com has been webcasting hamfests for over 11 years.

The webcast has viewers in over 150 countries, and pulls an audience of approximately 50,000 viewers during the Dayton Hamvention.

Every year that W5KUB.COM has been webcasting they have been making improvements to the equipment and the technology. Today you can watch near HD quality video of these events in full screen on your computer.

There are several different aspects which make the webcast enjoyable.

First the webcast page has a chat room where hams around the world can log in and chat directly with the W5KUB.COM group at the event.

In addition to being able to ask real time questions and receive answers from vendors such as MFJ, ICOM, Yaesu and more, online viewers are able to chat with other hams, some located on the opposite side of the world.

Secondly, and this is the fun part, W5KUB.COM gives out prizes to online viewers. There is no cost to anyone! Viewers just have to be logged in to the chat room and winners are randomly picked from the list of logged in viewers.

The winner must claim the prize within the allotted timeframe (usually 2-3 minutes) to win it. Prizes vary from magazine subscriptions to high end equipment such as D-STAR radios, wattmeters, HTs, dual band radios, antenna tuners, microphones, and more. In the last two years, over $26,000 in prizes have been awarded to viewers. Many hamfest don’t award this much!

And thirdly, viewers get to virtually make the trip and ride along during the drive to and from the hamfest. The webcast usually starts one or two days before the ham event. Viewers are 'virtually' in the passenger seat and experience the entire drive, even getting pulled over by the police for speeding! Viewers also get to see the scenery while APRS on the W5KUB.COM page identifies their exact location and driving speed on the map.

W5KUB.COM plans to expand the next Hamvention show with new and special guests, in addition to regular interviews with manufacturers. To assure the best quality video, a dedicated Ka band satellite uplink will be installed for our internet connection.

The 2014 Dayton Hamvention schedule:

  • Wed. May 14 th 1300 UTC - go live beginning with the drive from Memphis, Tennessee to Dayton, Ohio -550 Miles and 10 hours of driving
  • Thurs May 15 th 1400 UTC - Webcast booth setup at Hamvention
  • Friday May 16 th 1300 UTC -Hamvention webcast begins
  • Saturday May 17 th 1300 UTC - Second day of Hamvention webcast
  • Sunday May 18 th 1300 UTC - Third day of Hamvention webcast
  • Sunday May 18 th approximately 1800 UTC - begin the webcast of the drive from Dayton, Ohio back to Memphis, Tennessee

W5KUB.COM has a Facebook group for viewers to follow the webcast and to provide suggestions throughout the year and discuss all aspects of ham radio.

W5KUB Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/w5kub/ .

To join the webcast - http://W5KUB.com