Identifying Sources of Radio Frequency Interference Around the Home

I found this interesting article and want to share it. The writer takes a spectrum analyzer and checks out sources of RFI in his home. His results might surprise you. I posted the first few paragraphs then link to the remainder of the article. The writer has illustrated the spectrum of each interfering item.
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Identifying Sources of Radio Frequency Interference Around the Home

Most people associate radio frequency interference (RFI) with electricity that is arcing through the air, as when a power connector is corroded or has become loose. But in recent years, many consumer devices have become widely available that contain circuits that are intrinsically noisy.

These devices contain Class D amplifiers and power supplies that use silicon controlled rectifiers (SCRs). Digital circuits in computers and computer networking equipment are also intrinsically noisy, because of the rapid acceleration and deceleration of electrons at high processing speeds.

This page describes the results of some tests with a portable spectrum analyzer in my attempts to identify the sources of RFI around the house. Radio interference was found in a number of unexpected places. Each type of interference has a characteristic signature that can aid in finding the source. In some cases, the RFI can be easily eliminated. In others, the only sure way to eliminate the interference is with the repeated application of small-arms fire. (in other words, by shooting them).

Click here to go to the complete article.

5 Tips for Reducing Club In-fighting - Clubs and Egos don't Mix

I have recently become aware of 3 Amateur Radio Clubs (ARC) that have experienced in-fighting. Let me ask those of you who can’t get out of the way of your egos, what is the point of being a ham if rather than bringing your community together, your involvement fractures your ham radio community? Bickering over duties, ideas, plans, and other activities is pointless, and can be hermful. 

So, here are 5 tips that'll help avoid or cut down on bickering.

1. Go back to what you agree on. This will often reset the discussion enabling some headway to occur.
2. Speak to others the way you want to be spoken to. This is a take on “the Golden Rule”. If you expect a measure of respect, then make sure you’re giving it.

3. Realize that new ideas are not assaults on old traditions. Club members shouldn’t view changes as a personal attack.

4. Clubs should encourage concerns be brought out into the open and discussed rationally.

5. Hams with concerns/complaints should be listened to objectively. Clubs shouldn’t decide if a concern is important or not based on who has the concern. Every member is important, and no one member makes your amateur radio group a club.

Hopefully those of you in an ARC will consider these ideas and avoid serious difficulties in your organization. Remember, ham radio is supposed to be a fun hobby, not an exercise in politics. Keep your egos out of the equation and you’ll find problems much easier to overcome.

ARRL Introduces First Challenge Coin

09/07/2010 From ARRl.org

This month, the ARRL and the Amateur Radio community celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service®, or ARES®. To help commemorate this milestone, the ARRL has introduced an anniversary Challenge Coin. The die-struck, 1.5 inch brass coin depicts the ARES 75th anniversary logo in gold with red, white and blue color fill, while the reverse shows the ARRL diamond logo against a hemisphere of the world.

Around the perimeter of the ARES® logo are the words Ready, Resilient and Responsive. “These words represent the critical need that ARES® activities have provided, and will continue to provide into the future,” said ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Mike Corey, W5MPC. “The Challenge Coin honors the service of ARES® volunteers and all Amateur Radio operators who respond to the call of public service. We hope ARES® volunteers will enjoy the honor of having the first Challenge Coin issued by the ARRL.”

While there are many stories about the origin and history of challenge coins, these medals have been popular with organizations and leagues for decades. “Challenge Coins are probably most common among the military and civil service organizations,” explained ARRL Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R. “These mementos are often used to commemorate a special occasion or to show loyalty among individuals that share pride and affinity for a particular service or agency. The coins are even popular among police, fire and EMS officials.”

The new ARRL Challenge Coin is struck with the year-of-issue, which in this case is 2010. Five diamond shapes on the coin’s head signify the five ARRL pillars: Public Service, Advocacy, Education, Technology and Membership. “We hope this is the first of a series of Challenge Coins for the ARRL,” said Inderbitzen. The ARES® 75th Anniversary Challenge Coin -- as well as commemorative T shirts and mugs -- are available directly from ARRL.

Should Operators be more Professional on ARES and Traffic Nets?

Following instructions of traffic net controls is very important both during a crisis and during training. It seems to me that all NTS traffic nets are training nets. If you think about it, who is better trained to handle traffic during a crisis? I’ll tell you, the people who have been practicing regularly.

That said, there are weekly ARES nets where formal traffic is never passed except in the event of an emergency. So, this is a time when it is even more important for the checked in operators to follow the instructions of the net control operator.

Some people might dismiss net control instructions as being needless formalities, but many of the instructions are given for a reason.
Here are some common Net Control instructions and their purposes:

1. Please follow the instructions of the net control station- This rule clears up who is coordinating the net communications

2. When checking in, Please give your call sign phonetically- This ensures efficient copying of the call signs and cuts down on the need for fills.

3. Stations relaying, Please say “relay” and give your call sign only - This cuts down on confusion. If several stations suddenly keyed up saying “I have a relay, did you get …” a lot of time is wasted sorting through the confusion. It may not seem like much time is wasted, but shouldn’t we strive to be better operators?

An incident occurred this evening when I corrected an operator for not following a net instruction. I tried being cool about it, but I think that in trying so hard I did just the opposite.

That wasn’t the only incident this evening though. I asked for calls phonetically so I’d have time to write them. What happened though? A I got a few calls phonetically, then a long string of them, one right after the other really fast, non-phonetically

This is why I’m writing this now. Maybe I’m too much of a hardass, but I don’t think it’s wrong to expect the net instructions to be followed. Somebody tell me, am I expecting too much professionalism from amateurs?

4 Topic Ideas for Rag-Chew & Round-Table Nets

Ham operators don’t ever seem to run out of things to talk about when checked into rag –chew and round-table nets. That said, there may be times when the cat gets the better of your tongue because you suddenly don’t know what to say. Here are some conversation Ideas if this ever happens to you.

The first thing that comes to mind is cars. You can bring up your favorite car of all time, or maybe even your first car. This never fails to draw people in.

Something else I find pretty easy for hams to talk about is a first camera. Mine was a Kodak 110 that came in a kit. This was back in the mid ‘70s.

A third conversation idea is guns. Talk about an old shotgun that you or your dad once owned. This topic is also popular with many hams.

One last topic idea for you is something all hams love. That would be food! Think about it, what ham that you know, doesn’t like food? Talk about your favorite, or a recipe you like to use. Believe it or not, many hams not only like to eat, they like to talk about food too.

There you go, some topic ideas for those occasions when you can’t think of any thing to say.

Good luck on the bands, and maybe I’ll catch you down the log.

3 Reasons for using Standard ITU Phonetics

When I was a signal soldier in the Army, we only used standard ITU phonetics. Standardized phonetics served some important purposes.

1. They reduced reception errors
2. They increased reception and overall traffic speed
3. They reminded us that formal traffic handling was serious business

I’m not saying hams should never use ‘more interesting’ phonetics with their call signs. I’m not saying that at all. Many times I can be heard signing with “King Edward’s 5 Ugly Toe Nails” for KE5UTN.

You won’t, however, hear me identify with this on any ARES net, or Traffic net. Those nets are not the place for anything other than standard ITU phonetics.

I understand it is easier to sometimes say calls by switching phonetic sounds, but those substitutions (if made enough) will become a bad habit, and here is why:

There have been times when my reception of traffic ‘hiccupped’ because someone threw a phonetic at me that my mind wasn’t ready to process. I thought, was that a letter or a word? Then I had to get a fill on the message stalling out the entire net.

You see, slow operators like me can be thrown off by non-standard phonetics. It’s similar to rearranging all the letters on a typists’ keyboard and expecting no change in typing speed.

I say have fun with your nonstandard phonetics, but please save them for rag-chews and round-tables.

Here are the Standard ITU phonetics. Please use them in traffic and ARES nets.
A-ALPHA
B-BRAVO
C-CHARLIE
D-DELTA
E-ECHO
F-FOXTROT
G-GOLF
H-HOTEL
I-INDIA
J-JULIET
K-KILO
L-LIMA
M-MIKE
N-NOVEMBER
O-OSCAR
P-PAPA
Q-QUÉBEC
R-ROMEO
S-SIERRA
T-TANGO
U-UNIFORM
V-VICTOR
W-WHISKY
X-X-RAY
Y-YANKEE
Z-ZULU