Palms West Amateur Radio Club

Solar activity increased dramatically this reporting week (April11-17), and thirteen new sunspot groups emerged. One appeared onApril 11, two more on April 13, three more on April 14, another twoon April 15, one more on April 16 and another two on April 17. OnApril 18 an additional two sunspot groups emerged, and the dailysunspot number increased to 247.The daily sunspot number was 199 on April... [...]

Death Valley National Park is in a remote desert in southern California, where mobile phone networks are spotty at best. On Saturday, April 6, a radio amateur and his family were enjoying the park when their vehicle became stuck in mud in a dangerous area. Without access to a cell network, the ham called for help on the 10-meter band.According to a news release from the Black Swamp Amateur Radi... [...]

I did not see last Monday's eclipse, except on television. Here inthe Pacific Northwest, we only got a 20% exposure, and skies wereovercast.As they moved across the country displaying successive totality, Inoticed the prominences on the edge of the disk. There were alwaysbetween one and three little red spots at the edge.Solar activity over the past reporting week, April 4-10, remainsweak.Avera... [...]

I don’t need to explain the attraction of low power operation; if you’re reading this, the chances are that you are already a convert. I’ve been operating with low power ever since first being licensed in the UK in the late 70’s as G8RYQ, and then G4IFA. One of my first rigs was a homebrew […] [...]

Here’s a little project I put together on a whim about 18 months ago. It was my tribute to the unlicensed (i.e. pirate) beacon cluster around 4096 KHz. There were several of them operating in full force, with powers ranging from around 100mW to a watt or so a few years ago. Their heyday was […] [...]

Some years ago, I purchased and assembled an Oak Hills Research WM-2 QRP Wattmeter from Milestone Technologies. As far as QRP wattmeter kits go, it was something of a classic at the time, and as such, I wanted one. I’m glad I made this purchase, as they are no longer available – at least, in […] [...]

Growing up as the youngest of 4 boys, I was well positioned to receive all the hand-me-downs. Although that might sound as if I just ended up with second-rate stuff, that was not the case at all. I inherited a lot of great things from my older brothers. I couldn’t have cared less that they’d […] [...]

I haven’t been building much at all, for quite a long time now. However, the urge occasionally returns. When it does, it’s wonderful to have a small stash of parts on hand, so I can pull the soldering iron out and start building before the desire dissipates. I’ve been interested in beacons for a while, […] [...]