Tag: General

Updated: How to sound like a Pro when operating on a repeater

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New and improved! How to sound like a pro when operating on a repeater and the companion guide: How to Participate in a Net like a Pro!

repeater guidelines
How to sound like a pro when operating on a repeater

How to sound like a pro when operating on a repeater was written in an effort to help Elmer newly-licensed hams (and those who may or may not have a CB background) on common conventions used when operating on repeaters. None of us are perfect and even long-time hams slip up now and then, but we hope that this guide will help you sound like a pro when operating on repeaters.

The guide provides positive guidelines, and lays out common nomenclature used by convention on repeaters. There are no hard and fast rules. Your ham license won’t be revoked, no one is going to laugh and point, but you are more likely to get a positive response when you sound like you know the lingo and use it appropriately.

See the companion document: How to Participate in a Net like a Pro!

RMRL 2022 Holiday Schedule

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There will be no Rocky Mountain Radio League Net on the following U.S. Federally observed holidays in 2022:

  • Monday, January 17th, Martin Luther King Day
  • Monday, February 21st, Presidents’ Day
  • Monday, May 30th, Memorial Day
  • Monday, June 20th, Juneteenth (observed)
  • Monday, July 4th, Independence Day
  • Monday, September 5th, Labor Day
  • Monday, October 10th, Columbus Day
  • Monday, December 26th, Christmas Day (observed)

(Note that Monday, January 2nd, 2023, is the Federal observation of the New Year’s Holiday and there will be no net that night.)

The 449.825 Repeater is on the air!

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The 449.825 is up!

From our President, Dunnigan Macilwaine, K1DUN

With great relief and appreciation, I am pleased to announce that the 449.825 is on the air once again. As always it is linked full-time to the 146.940. I can’t say enough to express my gratitude to Mike Kionka, our Chief Technical Officer, for making this possible. I also want to thank Richard Shaw and his son for providing safe storage for the repeater during the long interim. Then I want to thank Cliff Holloway and Ian MacIlwaine for their hands-on help with the painstaking re-installation. Cliff was also indispensable in getting us access to the repeater site. You all exemplify the spirit of RMRL and ham radio so well! I salute you!

Getting the 449.825 back on the air
Chief Technical Officer Mike Kionka
It was a team effort to get the repeater back on the air.

Win a FREE membership to the Rocky Mountain Radio League!

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Win a free membership to the RMRL
Win a FREE membership to the Rocky Mountain Radio League!
Win a FREE membership to the Rocky Mountain Radio League!

How? Simply check in to every RMRL Monday night net between January 27th and June 16th, 2020. A couple of nice people bought three (3) RMRL memberships to give away, so you have an excellent chance of winning.
Make that five (5) memberships! Another generous member has stepped forward to contribute two more memberships to the great giveaway!

If you have an otherwise perfect record but miss a check-in because your hamster set your hair on fire and you have to go to the ER that night, proper consideration will be given to your circumstances. (Doctor’s note required.)

Seriously, you can keep your free membership or gift it to someone else, so it’s worth your while to check-in every week! The membership will be tacked onto your existing membership, so you won’t forfeit any time you have already paid for.

Winners will be announced June 29th.

YOU could be the next lucky winner!

Start a new net on the RMRL!

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What a great time to start a net! Maybe you want to start a net for the short term (a couple of months) or you have been thinking about a net for the long term. Either way, we’ve got you covered.

Topic? We will entertain most ideas (except politics and religion). Maybe you would like to review entertainment options or share exotic recipes. Maybe you want to talk motorcycles or the best takeout delivery options.

We can help with a Net Script and give you tips on running a successful net.

Please contact us at .

RMRL 2019 Holiday Schedule

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There will be no Rocky Mountain Radio League Net on the following U.S. Federal holidays in 2019:

  • Monday, January 21st, Martin Luther King Day
  • Monday, February 18th, Presidents’ Day
  • Monday, May 27th, Memorial Day
  • Monday, September 2nd, Labor Day
  • Monday, October 14th, Columbus Day
  • Monday, November 11th, Veterans Day

Pet Net Moves to 7:30 p.m.

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The Pet Net for ham radio pet lovers
The Pet Net
Day: Every Thursday
Time: 1930 (7:30 p.m.) Mountain time
Hosted: RMRL repeater 145.340 (tone 103.5)
IRLP: 9618
Echolink: 29618
AllStar: 27408

The Pet Net has moved to a new time of 7:30 (19:30) on Thursday evenings. (We used to start at 7:00). We have a lot of fun and interesting discussions about all aspects of pet parenthood.  We want YOU to join us!

Find us on the 145.340 (a negative offset and a tone of 103.5), IRLP node #3350. OR you can connect to us via IRLP (thank you, Friends Ham Radio Network) IRLP: 9618; Echolink: 29618; AllStar: 27408.

The topic for the week is usually posted in advance on our Facebook page. Be sure to visit us and post your suggestions for future topics, or share a link to an interesting article or product.

The Pet Net
Day: Every Thursday
Time: 1930 (7:30 p.m.) Mountain time

 

Pssst

On Friday evening tune in to the same frequency at the same time for the YL Family Net.  A fun, relaxing family-friendly net where third party check-ins are welcomed and encouraged and we just have fun talking to everyone: women, men, teens, and kids. Fun conversation-starter topics.  The third Friday of the month is trivia night! (We don’t keep score, just have fun.)

Preparedness Apps for Android and iPhone

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By Steve Cosentino, KD0WMO

The topic for the Preparedness Net on 1/20/2018 was about apps that you use as part of your preparedness strategy. The RMRL expressed interest in publishing the list that we compiled, so here it is. Most apps are available for both platforms: iPhone and Android. Most are free unless otherwise noted.

Weather:

Quite a number of people mentioned their favorite weather app, and among those mentioned were:

  • Weather Underground (local to your neighborhood, free on both platforms.)

Weather Radar:

  • MyRadar Weather Radar (free and paid versions, both platforms.)
  • Dark Sky – Hyperlocal Weather (Android) $2.99.
  • Dark Sky Weather (iOS) $3.99.
  • AccuWeather (free and paid versions, both platforms.)
  • NOAA Weather Radar & Alerts (Android, although iOS offers several NOAA Weather Radar apps.)

Maps:

  • Google Maps – free on both platforms.
  • US Topo Maps Pro (Android $11.99) ATLOGIS Geoinformatics also offers US Topo Maps free on the Android platform. (They do not appear to offer any iOS apps, although there are plenty of topographical map apps to select from on the iOS platform.)
  • Offline Maps & Navigation (although this is the specific name of a free Android app, there are plenty of offerings in this category: Google Maps and others have offline options.)
  • My GPS Coordinates –  free on both platforms.
  • Google Sky Map (Android only, free, however, both platforms have a plethora of star gazing apps available, ranging in price from free on up to aviation-class maps that cost over $100.)

Ham Radio:

  • QRZdroid, now known as QRZ for Android is available on Amazon for free at this link: https://www.amazon.com/QRZ-for-Android/dp/B00805DDZ6 (We couldn’t find the QRZ android app on Google Play, but found an app called HAM Radio World Prefixes.)
  • QRZ Callsign Search is available for the iOS Platform (free.)
  • RepeaterBook (a free Repeater Directory) is available on both platforms.
  • Ham Radio Dipole Calculator by Haydn Brook, Free on Android. There are antenna calculators for the iOS platform ranging from $.99 to $2.99.
  • Ham Clock – both platforms have a free app called Ham Clock, although they are from different developers, they both provide local and UTC time, a handy tool for all hams. Free on Android, $.99 on iOS.

Police Scanners:

  • Scanner Radio (logo is orange circle with HT scanner, available on the Android platform, offering a free and paid version.)
  • Broadcastify (free and paid versions on both platforms.)
  • Scanner 911 (free app on Android platform, although there are a plethora of scanning apps, both free and paid, available on both platforms.)

Medical:

  • Red Cross – The American Red Cross offers a multitude of apps, ranging from Blood Donor to Earthquake, Hurricane, Flood, and Tornado preparation apps for both platforms, all free.
  • WebMD – WebMD offers a variety of apps for both platforms including general health information and specialization apps.

Miscellaneous Apps:

  • Wild Edibles* – Android $4.99, iOS $5.99.
  • SAS Survival Guide. Lite version free, iOS and Android full version $5.99.
  • Zello – walkie talkie app available free for both platforms

*Other apps of this type are free.

The Preparedness Net is hosted by Steve Cosentino every Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. local time on the Colorado Connection repeater system, a unique statewide two meter linked FM radio system with additional coverage into adjacent states.  The Colorado Connection, consisting of 15-repeaters, is a 501(c)3, relying on donations and volunteers to keep the system operational.

Meet your new Chief Technical Officer

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Mike Kionka at the RMRL Christmas dinner
Mike Kionka at the 2017 Christmas dinner

At our December meeting, Mike Kionka, KI0GO, was named the Chief Technical Officer, a new position in the Rocky Mountain Radio League club.

Mike’s interest in radio communications was piqued as a teen when he started out playing with scanners and CB radio.

He went on to get his ham license in 1995 with the call sign KB0UCA. Mike then upgraded to Advanced around 1997 and got the call sign KI0GO. Although he upgraded to Extra around 1999 (after they eliminated the 20 wpm Morse code requirement), he kept the KI0GO callsign.

Mike graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2001 with a degree in electrical engineering. When he’s not helping out the RMRL, Mike works as a professional electronics engineer on radio and microwave communications systems.

In the summer he keeps busy with motorcycle road racing (http://mra-racing.org) on his Kawasaki Ninja 250. In the winter, he enjoys snowmobiling.

Mike has done a phenomenal job for the club, going to great lengths to get to and repair our repeaters and in bringing up our new DMR equipment. The next time you hear him on the air, be sure to join us in saying, “Thank you, Mike!”

Just for fun: Morse Code text message tone

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Morse Code ring tone
Download a new ringtone

From Becky, KD0AOE. I rely on text messages for important communications and wanted a unique tone that would be sure to grab my attention. I ended up making my own ringtone for text messages. It says simply “New Message” in Morse code.

You are welcome to download it for your phone, in either the iPhone .m4r ringtone format or a .wav file that can be used on your Android phone.  Right click on the link and select “Save link as …” to save it to your computer.

I’ll leave you to Google how to load the files to your smartphones.  I used this Morse Code Translator site to create the file.

Do you have anything to share?  A smartphone program that relates to ham radio perhaps?  E-mail me at .